Marauder Madness
by Xx Paws xX
Summary: A Hogwarts school year with the Marauders is guaranteed to be a hectic one, and seventh year is no exception. James, Lily, and their friends have to deal with love, loss, heartbreak, and the sudden outburst of fear that could only be caused by Voldemort.
1. The Lily Evans Operation

The Lily Evans Operation 

The Hogwarts Express gave an almighty lurch as its gears sped into motion. The Marauders sat in a compartment to themselves in the back of the train, looking out the windows and filled with the anticipation and excitement of their seventh and final year of Hogwarts.

"Hey, Prongs, do you think you'll get lucky with Evans this year, mate?" Remus, a tall wizard with sandy hair and light brown eyes, asked his friend while looking over his book.

"Yeah, Prongs, maybe the four hundred ninety-seventh time will be lucky," Sirius said sarcastically. He was a tall, muscular, tan wizard with shaggy (yet incredibly stylish) black hair and piercing gray eyes.

"Mate, this year's going to be the year." James said, leaning forward in his seat and ruffling his fingers through his jet-black, and already messy, hair. His hazel eyes peered at Sirius and Remus earnestly.

"The big one," Sirius said, his tone bored as he flicked a piece of hair out of his eyes.

"The year we've all been waiting for," Remus said, without looking up from him book.

Peter, a mousy-looking boy with blonde hair, watery blue eyes, and some weight on him that his mother kept insisting was "only puppy fat", said, "The year that I'll finally convince Lily Marie Evans to go out with me." The speech James had started was obviously said many times over the years.

Remus finally marked his place in his book and closed it with a snap. "Prongs," he said, looking at James with a mingled expression of pity and amusement, "you have to change your attitude if you want to get through to Lily."

"But," James said, looking over at Sirius accusingly, "Padfoot here said that I should show off all my skills to Lily to get her hooked."

Remus sighed and threw Sirius a reproachful look, before turning his attention back to James. "Since when has his advice been helpful?" James looked aghast as he realized that Remus had a good point with that last statement. He remembered the last time he had come to Sirius to ask for advice about the best way to write a letter to Jessica, a girl a year younger than the Marauders who had been infatuate with James since she first lay her eyes on him.

_"Now, all you have to do is tell her that you aren't interested in her," a third-year Sirius Black told him sternly, handing him a quill and some parchment. "Don't make it too nice, or she'll think that you're just playing hard-to-get. Make it real mean, so she knows that you mean business!"_

_"Um, are you sure this is going to work, Sirius?" James asked skeptically (they didn't have their nicknames until they became unregistered animagi in their fifth year, to help Remus better endure his werewolf transformations), one eyebrow raised and his glasses slightly askew._

_"Of course it will, Jamsie," Sirius said, shoving the quill into James's hand. "Just write the letter and you'll be rid of her for good."_

_"Okay, then," James said, and started to say each word as he wrote it on the parchment. "Dear…Jessica," he said, writing the words on the parchment in quick, untidy handwriting that spattered ink all over the place. "'I …don't…like…you. …Leave…me…alone. …Lily…is…much…better…than…you. …Signed…James Potter.' There!" he said, slamming down his quill. "I'm done!"_

_He passed the letter throughout the Gryffindor common room to Jessica, who read it and burst into tears._

_"Sirius," James said, scowling and turning to face his best friend, who grinned sheepishly at him, "I am NEVER following your advice again. EVER!"_

Obviously, he forgot that promise. "Oh, right," he said, comprehension dawning on him at last. "I remember now!"

Peter laughed shrilly, earning curious glances from the rest of the Marauders. He stopped immediately.

"So," James said, ignoring Peter and turning to face Remus again, "what should I do to get Evans to stop hating me and fall miraculously in love with me?"

"Well," Remus said, his tone business-like, "first off, you shouldn't call her 'Evans'. Call her Lily. A simple 'Hello, Lily' will make a much better impression than 'Go out with me, Evans?'. Secondly, you should stop cursing people in the hallways just for the fun of it. Now, I know that Snivellus is a special case"—Sirius and James exchanged smirks at this point, they loathed Severus Snape (christened Snivellus by the Marauders) and loved to hex him when he was unawares—"but at least make sure that you don't hex him when Lily is around. And don't ask her out constantly. That only gets her annoyed and aggravated. Try being her friend first, and see where that takes you. Oh, and stop ruffling your hair and showing off, that annoys her, too."

James was looking at Remus in awe, apparently shocked that one person could find so many things wrong with him.

Sirius took the opportunity to smack James in the back of the head. "ARG!" James screamed, rubbing the back of his head and glaring daggers at Sirius. "Padfoot, mate, WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Behind his back, Peter and Remus were laughing at the scene developing before them.

"That?" Sirius asked, putting on a face of pure innocence and slapping him on the head again. "That was for taking my advice. You see what a sticky predicament you've gotten yourself into? I thought you learned your lesson, Prongsie, my man."

James growled and made to launch himself at Sirius, but just then the lunch trolley rolled past. "Anything sweet from the trolley, dears?" the woman asked, holding out some chocolate frogs with a bemused expression on her face. Remus' hand lunged out, almost instinctively, to grab the chocolate out of her hands, while Sirius and James wrestled on the floor behind him. _My, those boys are really peculiar,_ the woman thought as she closed the door behind them and continued to walk down the train.

About five minutes later, the four boys were laughing at the stunned look on the trolley woman's face. Lily barged into the compartment, her face livid, her eyebrows scrunched down in anger. "POTTER!" she screamed loudly, "YOU ARE HEAD BOY! I AM HEAD GIRL! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE TELLING THE PREFECTS WHAT TO DO!"

"Oh, bugger," James mumbled, his face turning beet red as he looked at her. He forgot. This was not a good way to start 'the year that Lily Marie Evans would finally go out with him'. "I'm really sorry, Lily, I forgot," he said, his voice quiet and full of sorrow.

For a second, Lily felt sorry for James. For only a second. Then she felt angry again. "Well, come on then," she said briskly, snapping her fingers, "we need to patrol the corridors. Honestly, Potter, the badge is on your bloody CHEST and you forgot about it. How thick can you get?"

Lily then walked out of the compartment with James following close behind, trying discretely to sniff her hair. He loved the smell of her shampoo, whatever it was, and thought he might try to make amends by complimenting her on it. "Lily?" James said bashfully.

Lily turned around sharply to face him. "What, Potter?" she snapped.

"Um," James said, fumbling with the Head Boy badge pinned to the front of his new school robes, "I like the smell of your shampoo."

"James!" she exclaimed, backing away from him slightly. He cowered in front of her, even though she was at least a foot shorter than him. "Do you mean to tell me that you were _sniffing _me!"

"Somethinglikethat," James said very quickly, though not quickly enough.

"ARG!" Lily screamed, and stomped away. James, looking thoroughly miserable, followed after her, checking into numerous compartments randomly for misbehavior. Satisfied that he had found none, he returned back to his own compartment, fuming.

"The NERVE of her!" he said, slamming the compartment door. He sat down next to the window and pressed his forehead against it, his breath fogging up parts of the window. "I tell her I like her shampoo and she starts yelling at me! I try everything, EVERYTHING, to get her to like me, and none of it works. I'm just not good enough for her, am I?"

Remus looked at his discouraged friend, while Sirius patted his shoulder sympathetically (though rather awkwardly). Peter had left the compartment a while before to use the bathroom, and was nowhere to be found…not that anybody noticed his absence.

"Prongs," Sirius said, tearing James's face away from the window with an odd squelching noise, "Moony came up with a plan for you. I happen to think that it'll work. We have to try it."

"Okay," Remus said, still with a business-like tone to his voice. "Prongs, we all know that you love Lily. In fact, I think that the only person who doesn't realize it is Lily herself. I have a feeling that you're starting to grow on her. Her expression softened somewhat after you apologized for forgetting about the Heads duties."

James beamed at what his friend was telling him. "Well, then, that's good, isn't it?" James asked hopefully.

"I would assume so," Remus said seriously. "Now, Lily appreciated it last year when you tried to calm down around her, and she started noticing that you aren't a big-headed prat. Of course, that love potion that Sirius brewed for an April Fool's Day prank on you"—at this point he glared at Sirius, who seemed unabashed, though admittedly chuckled a bit—"messed things up quite a bit. But I figure that if you try again, Prongs, we could get her. After all, April Fool's Day is quite a long way from now. Now, I know that this will be hard for you, Prongs, but you need to leave Lily alone. Let her come to you. I'm positive that after a while she'll miss your attention, but she has to come to you first. Just don't talk to her and pretend you don't really care if she cares about you or not."

James groaned in protest. "Mooooooooony," he whined, "you know I can't do that! How long do I have to last for?"

"As long as it takes, Prongsie boy," Sirius said, looking at James's face with a mixture of pity and amusement. The pity won over the amusement though, as he said, "Don't worry, mate, she'll come around. This plan is virtually foolproof!"

**A/N: This is my first fan fiction story. I have lots more chapters written up! If you find any mistakes, or if you have suggestions, or anything you want to say, please review! I'd love you for it :) Thanks!**


	2. The James Potter Operation

The James Potter Operation 

While Remus was busy explaining his plan to James in earnest, Lily was talking just as seriously to her friends, Shayna and Jocelyn, two compartments down from the boys.

"Listen," Lily whispered urgently.

"Um, just a second, Lily," Shayna stopped her. She was a shy girl; she was tall, pale, had wavy blonde hair that fell to the middle of her back, and blue-green eyes that reminded you of a blue sky and an ocean storm at once. The first time Lily saw her, she wondered if she was part veela. She crossed her legs and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear with a long, delicate finger. "Why are you whispering?" she asked with a tinkling laugh. If she weren't so shy, she would have every wizard in Hogwarts wrapped around her little finger.

Jocelyn, Lily's other friend, was almost the exact opposite of Shayna. She was outgoing and outspoken, she never once missed an opportunity to flirt, and she had no common sense at all. She was short, very tan, and had curly brown hair that was cut just below her shoulders. "Yeah, Lily," she said, "there's no need to whisper. We're the only people here, you dolt!"

Lily playfully smacked Jocelyn's arm and continued. "James and the Marauders are two compartments down, and if they hear us then it'll be the end of me." That shut the other two girls up right away.

"Lily," Shayna started to say in her smooth, quiet voice, "if you don't like James, why do you care so much what he thinks about you?"

Lily turned so red that it was hard to tell where the roots of her hair were. "That's just it!" Lily said in a hoarse whisper. "I don't don't like James!"

"Sorry?" Jocelyn said with a confused expression on her face. Suddenly her expression changed as she understood. Her face lit up with triumph. "So you _do_ fancy him!" she exclaimed, and Lily hushed her quietly, though made no argument.

"The point is," Lily said, with a brisk business-like tone that reminded herself powerfully of Remus, "there is no way that James is going to ask me out again this year! I've led him on enough times, he's obviously given up on me to find someone else. He won't know that I love him and he won't care!" She suddenly realized what she admitted as her friends clapped their hands over their mouths in shock.

Jocelyn just stared at Lily, her eyes as round as saucers, as she realized that her friend was serious. Shayna's voice woke Jocelyn up out of her reverie, as she said, "Lily, James wouldn't do that. He's been asking you out at least 10 times a day since the second year!"

"Not last year," Lily said, her green eyes shimmering with tears. "Last year, towards the end of the year, he barely paid me any attention at all…well, other than that love potion incident…" Lily chuckled and continued talking, more to herself than to Jocelyn or Shayna. "That was only because of Sirius Black. I just wish…I just wish that we could do something to get him to not give up on me. I just wish that there was a way to make him understand that I don't hate him, and that I never hated him at all," she sighed, and suddenly her eyelashes were glimmering with tears.

"Oh, Lily," Jocelyn sighed, "Don't cry."

"Yeah," Shayna said, "please don't cry. You'll ruin your makeup!"

Lily made a weird noise somewhere between a sob and a laugh.

"Okay," Shayna said, "I have a plan. All you need to do, Lily, is show James that you're interested."

"How is she going to do that?" Jocelyn asked. Jocelyn, though very smart when it came to her classes, had almost no common sense.

Shayna sighed, as Lily laughed, checking her makeup in a mirror she stowed in her purse. "Honestly," Lily said, still chuckling, "_you_, my friend, are a complete dolt and a pain in the arse."

Shayna laughed, too, and Jocelyn finally caught on to Lily's sarcasm. "Anyway," Shayna said, after the laughter had died down, "I really do have a plan. Here's what you do, Lily. Talk to James. Show him that you care about him, ask about his interests, find out little facts and tid-bits about him. Don't yell at him. Act casual around him. And, most importantly," Shayna paused to let the full importance of the last part of the plan sink in, "be yourself around him. Don't be an uptight, shy bookworm with a wand up her arse. Just be you. Like you are around us!"

Lily nodded. This was going to need some work, but she was resolved to show James just how much he meant to her. After all, it was either now, or it truly would be never.

**A/N: yup, I've got about 5 more chapters that I've written. I just wanted to get these two up first so that you could have more than one little preview to read. Please review:)**


	3. The Woes of The Stag

The Woes of The Stag 

The Marauders (minus Peter, who still hadn't come back from the 'bathroom'. "I told him he shouldn't have eaten all those pumpkin pasties!" Sirius said, laughing) playing Exploding Snaps for the rest of the train ride, until they saw the school in the distance.

"Home sweet home," Sirius sighed, looking through the fogged window at the distant castle. James and Remus exchanged glances; they were unsure what to say to this statement, since Sirius had run away from his home that summer to live with James.

James coughed lightly. "Let's get our robes on," he suggested, making Sirius jump slightly.

"Yeah," he said, recovering from his surprise. "Seventh year, it's time you've met Sirius Black."

Peter suddenly barged into the compartment, wheezing and rubbing his left forearm subconsciously. None of the Marauders noticed a thing, though, as they were preoccupied with putting on their robes. "Hey guys," he squeaked. "What did I miss?"

"Too much for us to explain," Remus said, trying to hide his laughter.

Suddenly, the door burst open again, and there stood Lily in the doorway. James sucked in his breath, and for once Sirius could understand why. After reapplying her makeup (though James didn't know it, she had to reapply it after crying over him…if he would've known he probably would've snogged her right then and there), her green eyes stood out drastically against her smoky black eyeliner. She blushed slightly as she spotted James, topless, putting on his robe in the corner of their compartment. "I just wanted to make sure you guys were getting ready," she said in a rush, "but I can obviously tell that you are." She smirked as she saw James look down and realize that he was shirtless.

James opened and closed his mouth several times, giving him the look of a fish out of water, before he found his voice. When he did, he was surprised at the cold tone it took over as he addressed her. "Evans, we need to change."

Lily didn't seem phased. She walked over to him and placed a polished finger on his chest. "I will not be talked to like that, James." Her voice sound amused, and James kept looking from her face to her finger on his bare chest, and back again. "You might want to put a shirt on before you get into the castle, James," she said coolly. "You don't want your fan club to tackle you, now, would you?"

And then she turned and left, swaying her hips as she walked out of the compartment and into her own.

"Bloody hell," James said, pinching his arm to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Ouch!" He wasn't.

"You know, Prongs," Sirius said with a hint of laughter in his voice, "Lily was right. You really should put a shirt on."

James pulled on his shirt and robes in a dream-like state before turning to face his friend.

"You know, Padfoot," James said, sighing as the Hogwarts Express stopped and the students started filing out into the hall and out of the train, "this is going to be a lot harder than I thought…and I thought it was going to be hard to begin with!"

Peter emitted another high-pitched giggle, and Sirius turned to face him. "Wormtail," he said, exasperated, "you've got to stop doing that. It's embarrassing."

"Sorry, Padfoot," Peter said, still giggling. "It won't happen again."

"Yes," Sirius said, "it will, because you just did it again."

This just caused Peter to giggle even higher and louder, which caused Sirius to throw his hands up to the sky and sigh, "Why me?"

"Relax, Padfoot," Remus said calmly, "we all have to deal with him, don't worry about it."

"Okay," James said, shaking his head and running a hand through his extremely messy hair, "let's go. Almost everybody's getting into the carriages to take us up to school. At this rate, there won't be one for us!"

He slammed open the door with unnecessary force, and walked out into the corridor and off of the train, the rest of the Marauders following him close behind.

"Bloody hell," he said, as he was pelted by rain. No, the rain wasn't what was bothering him. What was bothering him was the fact that there was only one horseless carriage left, and three girls stepping into it. Those three girls happened to be Lily, Shayna, and Jocelyn. His dislike of the rain was battling his desire to make Remus' plan work, and it didn't take long for the rain to win. "Come on guys, let's go into their carriage," he said to his friends, then, breaking into a sprint on the slippery ground, "EVANS, WAIT FOR US!"

Sirius, Remus, and Peter had more sense than to run in the rain. Lily was halfway into the carriage when James slipped in a mud puddle. "James!" she exclaimed, running to help him up.

James didn't realize whom it was who was pulling his arm. "Thanks, Padfo—" he began, before looking into a pair of eyes that were not gray but green. "Hold on a second…you're not Padfoot." When James realized that Lily was helping him, he froze. She was less than a breath away from his face. She wasn't yelling at him. And she looked worried…not to mention incredibly pretty.

He gulped as he remembered the plan that he, Sirius, and Remus cooked up. Okay, mostly Remus. "I'm fine, Lily," he said gruffly. She was still close to him. Very close to him. He could count her eyelashes if he had the time.

"Good," she whispered, and goose bumps erupted on his arms. "You should probably get into the carriage before we all catch a cold."

"Yeah," he said, his voice catching in his throat.

She cleared hers. "Let's go, then?"

"Right," he said, shaking his head and spraying her with rainwater. She shrieked in surprise, and then laughed. _Bloody hell,_ James thought sadly, _she's too cute when she laughs. Her nose crinkles up! If she keeps this up then the plan is going to be a disaster._

Still holding onto his arm, she pulled him into the carriage. Once in the carriage, James pulled out his wand to perform a drying spell.

"Don't," Lily said, and Jocelyn and Shayna had to suppress giggles.

"Huh?" James said, still in a daze that Lily was actually talking to him.

"Don't dry yourself off," Lily said.

James grinned foolishly and said, "Why, you think I'm hot when I'm wet? Because I know other girls do, and—" he stopped as Sirius and Remus gave him warning looks from beside Lily. He had to remember the plan. "Oh. I suppose it's because we're going to get wet again when we walk out of the carriage. Sorry." He then proceeded to stare out the window for the remainder of the carriage ride, leaving Lily looking confused and slightly hurt.

Remus was talking to Jocelyn animatedly, and Sirius was trying to get into a conversation with Shayna. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't working very well. Peter was talking to Lily about Herbology, and Lily was trying to act interested. Inwardly, though, she was wondering about James's odd behavior.

_I wonder what's gotten into him,_ she thought. _Usually he would be asking me out by now. Maybe I was right. Maybe he did move on. _"No," she told herself sternly, not realizing that she had spoken out loud.

"No?" Peter said, "I always thought that the _Mimbulus Mimbletonia_ was the one that had the Stinksap, but I guess not."

"Oh," Lily said, realizing she had spoken aloud, "you're right. I'm sorry, Peter, my mind was on something else." _Rather, someone else_, she thought wryly.

Peter giggled, once again disturbing Lily from her thoughts.

"WORMTAIL!" Sirius, Remus, and James exclaimed in unison. They all exchanged glances and burst into laughter, as did Jocelyn, Shayna, and Lily.

_Maybe I am getting somewhere with this,_ James thought. _I just wish I could end soon so I won't have to deal with the torture of not being able to talk to Lily. Especially since she's so keen on talking to me this year._

**A/N: School's starting, so I won't be able to update as often…I have more chapters written up, so all I have to do is put them on, but it may be a bit slower than before. Review, please!**


	4. Thunderstorms and Confessions

Thunderstorms and Confessions 

Lily saw James's attitude towards her, but Lily wasn't a quitter. She knew that she would just have to try harder. And that was exactly what she was doing.

It was the first week of classes, and she and James were sharing the Heads dormitory. She had the perfect opportunity for phase two of her plan that Friday. The weather was dreary, it was 11:00 at night, and lightning flashed outside of their windows as thunder echoed across the grounds and the mountains beyond.

"James," Lily whispered, shaking him. He was sleeping in his bed, glasses still on, and a book across his lap. The candles that lighted up his room had long since gone out, as well as the fireplace in the wall parallel to the foot of his bed. "James," she whispered again, a little louder, as she shook him more urgently.

Lily was in her pajamas, which consisted of a tight tank top and boxer shorts, both the same shade of green as her eyes. Her dark red hair was falling down her back in loose waves.

James finally woke up, and, upon seeing that he wasn't alone in his room, sprung up with his wand in his right hand. Unfortunately, he forgot about the fact that he was still on his four-poster bed, and banged his head with a rather loud "thump" on the ceiling, and flopped back down onto his bed.

"James, are you okay?" Lily asked, concerned.

"Lily?" he said, blinking and rubbing his head where he hit it.

"Yeah," she whispered.

"What're you doing in here?" James asked, struggling to get back under the covers. He didn't want Lily to see him; after all, he _was _only in boxers.

"Well," Lily whispered, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger, "I woke up and heard the thunder."

"And…" James said, still trying to get under the covers.

"And I don't like the thunder," Lily whispered coyly. "It scares me. I was wondering if I could sleep in here tonight."

"In here? Well, I don't see the difference, but I'll just go grab my stuff and go into your room for tonight…" James said, jumping out of bed and grabbing his pillow.

Lily bit her lip. "No, that's not what I meant," she whispered, climbing into his bed.

"Well," James said, fidgeting slightly.

"I meant, sleep in here tonight," Lily whispered, moving over to one side of his bed, "with you."

"WHAT?" James exclaimed, jumping and dropping his pillow on the floor.

"Well," Lily said, trying to fight back a laugh, "when I was younger I used to go into my parents room and sleep with them when it was thundering outside, but I obviously can't do that!" Lily faked a jump as the thunder rang out and the lighting flashed.

"Oh, I thought you meant…"James started, and then stopped as he realized what he was about to say. "Never mind."

"So," Lily asked, propping herself up on her elbow to see him better, "can I stay here tonight?"

"Um, su-sure, Lily," he whispered gruffly. Lily could tell he was unnerved, and smiled to herself as James crawled into bed next to her.

"James?" Lily whispered tentatively. She didn't realize how small the beds seemed with two people in them. It took everything she had not to touch him.

"Yeah, Lily?" he whispered back. _Oh, bugger it all!_ James thought to himself. _I'm just going to forget about my plan. Lily obviously wants to talk to me, so why deprive the girl of my dreams from what she wants?_

"Why are you avoiding me?" Lily asked. She didn't know what possessed her to ask such a question; all she knew was that at that moment he wasn't avoiding her, and she had to get the answer before it was too late.

James sighed, and she felt him tense up next to her. He propped himself onto his elbows, seemingly talking to the ceiling. "I thought that you wanted me to," he whispered quietly; so quietly, in fact, that if Lily were an inch further from him she wouldn't have heard him.

Just then lighting struck again, followed by a deafening crack of thunder. Lily jumped closer to him out of instinct and wrapped her arms around him. James was in heaven.

"Sorry," Lily mumbled, embarrassed. "It just scared me for a second." She moved a little a way from him. "James," she whispered after a few seconds, "look at me, please?"

James turned to face her so that he was on his side, one elbow supporting him. Lily was in the same position, facing him. "I'm sorry, Lily," he breathed, then he sighed. His breath blew her hair back a little bit, and he laughed as she crinkled her nose in surprise.

"For what?" Lily asked, taken aback.

"For avoiding you," James whispered, his breath tickling her cheeks. "I shouldn't have, but I just thought that maybe you didn't want me to talk to you. I mean, this is such a change from yelling and screaming, and I…" he sighed, trying to find the right words, "I guess I didn't want to ruin whatever chances I had."

Lily reached out and ruffled his hair. "You dolt," she whispered, chuckling. "Usually if somebody helps you up out of the mud, it means they don't mind you that much."

"Well," James whispered, lying back down on his pillow, "I'm not the smartest guy around when it comes to you, Lily."

Lily felt herself blush, and was thankful for the darkness. "I've realized," she whispered, lying down and turning to look up at the ceiling.

"Lily," James whispered softly in her ear.

"Yeah, James?"

"Go out with me?"

Lily laughed and turned away from him, so that all he could see was a curtain of red hair next to him. "Goodnight, James."

**A/N: Thanks to everybody who read this far! The first chapters were just a bunch of random junk, but this chapter was definitely one of my favorite "useless junk" chapters. I honestly don't know why my mind comes up with these random things. Anyway, the next few chapters get more into the flow of the school year. Some morbid things happen, especially around Christmas. DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU READING, because I'm really not a morbid person. I just have morbid ideas based on JK Rowling's writing. Please review!**


	5. Voldemort's Reign of Terror Begins

Voldemort's Reign of Terror Begins 

James Potter woke up on Saturday morning to find his arm wrapped around a certain redhead that had been plaguing his dreams for almost six years. He couldn't move. He wouldn't move. Lily had her hands holding on to his. That was when he remembered all that had transpired the night before. That was also when he remembered what Lily had said to him during a stormy night almost four years before.

_Lily and James were sitting alone in the common room. Everyone else had gone up to bed. Lily was reading a book in one of the comfortable armchairs located near the fireplace, and James was watching her read._

_"All right, Evans?" he asked, breaking the silence._

_"Yes, Potter," Lily said, evidently annoyed. "Everything is fine."_

_"Well," James said smoothly, "I was just wondering, because most girls are afraid of thunderstorms. If you are, you could always come to me!" James looked across the room at her hopefully._

_"Potter," Lily stated sharply, standing up to go to her dormitory, "I trust you'll find that I'm not like most girls. I, for one, enjoy thunderstorms, so if you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you find someone else to use your cheesy pick-up lines on."_

"Lily?" James whispered quietly into her ear.

"What do you want, James?" Lily asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes groggily. "I was sleeping!"

"You're not afraid of thunder," James said triumphantly, wagging a finger at her.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lily asked, peering at the clock on the wall. Suddenly, it hit her. She turned to him, cheeks red and eyes wide. He was smirking.

"That means that you weren't afraid last night," James said, sitting up next to her and smiling widely. "So, you could've stayed in your own room, no problem!"

Lily's eyes went even wider, if that was possible. Her blush now matched her hair color as she stared at him in horror. "How do you know that?" she asked in a small voice.

"You told me at the end of second year," James said simply.

"And you remember?" Lily squeaked nervously.

"Lily, dear," James said, moving closer to her and putting an arm around her shoulder, "I remember it because it was the first time I talked to you without you yelling at me…you only threw a couple of well-placed insults at me, instead."

Lily giggled sheepishly and stood up. "Well, I suppose I should get back to my own room," she said awkwardly.

James let his arm, which was around her shoulders moments before, to drop down beside him with a flop. "Okay," he said, as if in a daze. _Merlin, this girl's confusing,_ he thought to himself as he watched her walk out of his room silently.

When Lily was dressed she knocked on his door. "James?" she said. "Can I come in?"

"I guess," he said gruffly. He was determined not to let her get to him like she did the night before.

"I think it's best if you don't tell anybody about last night," Lily said, twisting her hair around her finger. "I'm sorry."

When James didn't answer, and just kept rummaging through his drawers for a sock, she left the room.

James, however, was not one to keep a secret from his best friends. As he told Remus and Sirius what happened (Peter was again nowhere to be found), they looked at him in astonishment.

"So then," he said, finishing, "she says that she wants to just forget about it, and walks out of my room!"

To James's surprise, there was someone else listening in to the hushed conversation they were holding in a corner of the Gryffindor common room. "Well, she's obviously very confused right now," a quiet voice said from behind James.

"Shayna!" James shouted, jumping up from his armchair in surprise. "Did you hear the whole thing?"

"I heard enough," Shayna said quietly, sitting down next to Sirius. "Don't you understand how Lily's feeling?" she asked James, giving him a scrutinizing look.

"No," James said bluntly.

"Well, she's obviously feeling hurt, since you were ignoring her this whole week. Then she's feeling guilty, because she feels that it's her fault that you were ignoring her. She thought that she did something wrong. She also feels guilty that she faked you out last night. And she's also feeling really confused."

"Why's she confused?" Sirius asked seriously, his eyebrows furrowed down in a frown.

"Well," Shayna said with the air of someone who was stating the obvious, "she used to fight with James. Things used to be simple. James was madly in love with her, and she wasn't. Ever since the end of sixth year that's changed, and she's obviously very confused because things have complicated themselves quite a bit." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Oh, and she's also worried about her sister, who hasn't had a civil conversation with her since the rise of Voldemort."

"What's Voldemort got to do with her sister?" James asked, ruffling his hair. "Lily is Muggle-born, I thought!"

"Yes," Shayna said, "but somehow Petunia—that's her sister—blames Lily for it. Don't ask me how she got that idea in her head. Anyway, Lily's been really depressed about that. From what I heard, she and her sister were best friends before Lily was accepted into Hogwarts. So, Lily's hurt, guilty, confused, and depressed. Oh, and she also fancies James, so that could complicate things, too."

"But," Sirius said, one eyebrow raised in confusion, "how can one person feel so many things at once?"

"Sirius," she said, her voice oozing with disgust, "just because you have the emotional capacity of an eyedropper doesn't mean we all do." She stood up and looked at James. "Please," she said, and her voice was kinder as she spoke to him, "please keep in mind what Lily's feeling."

James nodded, shocked at how complicated a girl's mind was, and stood up. "I'm going down to the Great Hall for some breakfast," he said quietly. "Coming?"

Sirius and Remus stood up and walked down with him, still discussing what to do about Lily.

James and his friends were still talking when the Daily Prophet was dropped in front of him by a big barn owl. He gave the owl a knut and continued talking while unfolding the front page. "I mean, I really don't understand why she can't tell me what she's feeling," James was saying to Sirius and Remus. "I mean, I could help her out and maybe even—" he stopped mid-sentence as he saw the front page.

Mysterious Explosion Kills Twenty—Ministry Officials Baffled

Late last night, an explosion in a crowded Muggle area killed twenty people, five of which were wizards. A mysterious symbol is floating above the street. It is a skull with a serpent protruding from the mouth instead of a tongue. Ministry officials are unable to identify the symbol, though they are able to confirm that this and the explosion were the effects of extremely powerful magic. Using this evidence, the Minister of Magic is quite sure that the attack was by the wizard Voldemort, who is rising to power extremely fast and striking fear in the hearts of wizards and witches all over the world. He is quickly becoming known as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, because of the public's fear of him.

"This man must be taken very seriously," the harried-looking Minister of Magic replied after being questioned. "Investigations are being made, and we have the top Aurors on the case right now. Obviously, we can't tell you who, because if You-Know-Who's supporters are reading this then they will alert him immediately. The only thing the Ministry of Magic can do is to warn people to keep together and learn protective and elusive spells to keep them out of harm's way."

Some of these charms include the Fidelus charm, which makes the house it is charmed upon unable to find, unless the Secret Keeper tells its whereabouts. There is also a charm to make the house Unplottable, so that the house cannot be targeted without prior knowledge of it's _(for more the full story on protective and elusive charms, turn to page A5)_

James handed the page to Remus, who scanned it quickly, a scowl becoming more pronounced on his face with every line he read.

Professor McGonagall came over to the Gryffindor table, towards where James was sitting. "Potter," she said briskly, "please come with me. There is an urgent matter that I wish to discuss with you."

"Yes, Professor," James said, standing up and jogging after her, as she had already started walking out of the Great Hall and to her office.

"Potter," she said gently as she shut the door to her office, "please sit down."

"If it's all the same to you, Professor," James said quietly, "I think I'd rather stand."

"Very well then," she said, and her voice rang out in the quiet office. "As you know, your parents have joined a secret organization founded by Professor Dumbledore called the Order of the Phoenix."

"Yes," James said nervously, "I know that. But I don't see what that has to do with—"

"Let me finish, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said sharply. "They have been called upon by both the Order and the Minister of Magic to aid in the search for Voldemort."

James gaped at her open-mouthed. It was enough that Lily had slept in his bed last night and was now refusing to talk to him. It was enough that Voldemort and his supporters had blown up twenty people last night for the fun of it. It was too much to cope with to have both his parents search for Voldemort. "You're lying," James said, his voice shaking. "No, they can't have done." He was shaking his head violently, and his hands were balled up into fists.

Professor McGonagall put a gentle hand on his shoulder and eased him into a wooden, straight-backed chair. "Listen, Potter," McGonagall said gently, "I know that this must be hard, but they have accepted. They had to. They are the best Aurors in the Ministry, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were almost as good as Alastor Moody. Please understand."

"Yes, Professor," James said dejectedly. "I understand."

"Very well, Potter," she said, her voice now with its usual brisk tone, "that is all. You may leave."

James got up out of the chair and turned to leave. He knew where he was headed. It was a Saturday, and there was only one place he could think of.

_I need a place to sit and think,_ he thought, pacing on the seventh floor opposite the painting of Barnabas the Barmy. _I need a place to sit and think. I need a place to sit and think._ A door popped up on the bare stretch of wall. "Finally," he breathed, and pushed his way in, looking for a place to be alone. Surely the Room of Requirement would be empty. After all, he and the other Marauders discovered it!

He walked in and saw that he wasn't alone. "Lily?" he asked in disbelief.

**A/N: Thanks to everybody who reviewed! This is one of the "not junk-ish chapters", and where the story's actual plot comes in…it's kinda sad, but my friend is reading it and she says its good. I hope you guys think so, too! Review, please :)**


	6. Family Isn't Everything

Family Isn't Always Everything 

Lily looked up into James's disbelieving face.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked rather rudely.

"I needed a place to sit and think," she said coldly. "Obviously, you did, too. Well, if you have nothing more to say to me, then I think I'll be going. We have a meeting with Professor Dumbledore tonight at 8:00. I'll see you then." She stood up from the couch she was sitting on, turned on her heels, and stormed out of the room. 

She didn't realize where her feet were taking her. She was running; her black school robes were billowing behind her as she ran through the empty halls. Her hair was streaming behind her. She ran out the big oak front doors and down to the lake.

The chilly September air whipped her hair around her face as she sat by the edge of the lake. The grounds around her were filled with sounds; birds calling back and forth, the wind through the leaves of the trees of the Forbidden Forest, and the occasional ripple of the water as the fish or a tentacle of the Giant Squid trailed lazily across the water. Lily took a deep breath through her nose, letting the fresh, clean smell of the grass soothe her.

The truth was that Lily Evans was upset. Lily was upset that her sister no longer talked to her. She was upset that she had gotten a lower grade on her Transfiguration homework than she expected. She was upset that she hadn't accepted James's request for her to go out with him. She was upset that she even fancied him in the first place.

In fact, Lily was so upset that she didn't notice the person sitting beside her until he spoke. "Lily?" he asked softly.

Lily was still deep in thought and did not answer him.

"Lily," he said, a little louder this time, "why are you crying?"

Lily turned to face him and realized that she was, in fact, crying. She wiped away her tears with the back of her hands and turned away from the wizard next to her. "Sirius," she said, her voice cracking a bit, "just leave me alone, please."

"Oh, come on, Lily," he said, sighing as she turned away from him. "I just want to talk."

"Fine," Lily said tensely, "if I must, I must."

"Listen, Lily, I know you don't trust me at all," Sirius said quietly. "But Shayna told me that you had issues with your sister since you started school here, and since the rise of MoldyShorts"—Lily laughed at the nickname Sirius had given Voldemort—"she hasn't talked to you."

Lily nodded, not really angry with Shayna, because she had enough on her plate at the moment without being angry, and also because Shayna usually was smart enough to tell whether you could trust a person or not. "We—we used to act like best friends before I got my letter," Lily said, mopping up her tears with the sleeve of her robes.

"So I've heard," Sirius said. "Well, I thought you might like someone to talk to about your problems with your sister, and since I've had a number of family problems myself."

"Well," she said reluctantly, "you tell me your problems first."

"Do you have time?" Sirius asked playfully, causing Lily to giggle again in spite of herself.

"Yes, Sirius, I suppose I do. After all, it's a chilly Saturday morning, there's another two hours before lunch, and even then we could still talk. Yes, Sirius, I have plenty of time."

Sirius was shocked at her sense of humor, which was very much like his own. "Well," Sirius said, "my family is a long line of pureblood witches and wizards…the 'Noble and Most Ancient House of Black', as the family tree tapestry so proudly states." He scoffed. "Anyway, my mother, father, brother, and most of my relatives—other than Uncle Alphard, who left me a decent amount of gold when he died—have a disease which I like to call 'pureblood mania'. They believe that the only people who learn magic should be purebloods. When MoldyShorts first came out into the open, they thought he had the right idea about things. They would've joined him, too, if it weren't for the killings he was prepared to do to 'clean the world of mudbloods'.

"I was different from them. I didn't believe in 'pureblood mania'. I couldn't care less if your parents were Muggles or wizards or…or…or toads! Okay, maybe if your parents were toads I'd be a bit worried. When my parents found out that I was sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin like the rest of the family, I was treated differently. I was the mistake in the family, the 'oops'. And when I made friends with Prongs, Moony, and Wormtail—that is, James, Remus, and Peter…but you probably know their nicknames by now anyway—I broke the single unspoken rule my family had: no interacting with 'blood traitors'. Stupid rule, really.

"Anyways, last summer I decided I had enough. I left. I ran away."

"Where'd you go?" Lily whispered, her eyes wide with horror at the pure evil of the family that Sirius belonged to.

"Prongs' parents took me in. I guess you could say I'm their adopted son now. Mrs. Potter is the closest thing I've ever had to a mother. My own mother counts in blood only. I left on my flying motorcycle, which is very cool, by the way. And that's my story," he finished somewhat lamely.

"Wow," Lily breathed. "I never knew!" Before she could think about what she was doing, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"Don't let James see you doing that," Sirius said seriously, then laughed at the expression on her face. "Hey, Lily, I was just kidding."

"Oh," Lily said, blushing slightly. "I knew that."

At that moment Sirius's stomach decided to rumble loudly. "Well," he said, patting it and laughing, "that's the signal for lunch!"

Sirius stood up and brushed the grass off of him, and reached out a hand to help Lily up, though Lily didn't accept it. "Race you there!" Lily screamed, and she ran as fast as she could to the doors, Sirius following behind her. She threw open the door to find a very angry James Potter staring at her and Sirius.

"Sirius," he asked through clenched teeth, "can I speak with you, please?"

A/N: I got a review today that said something about Lily's actions being confusing, or not understandable…that will be explained in a later chapter called Q and A, its about 6 chapters after this one… anyway, I decided to leave you with a slight cliffhanger, though it isn't REALLY one…Thanks for reviewing, I really appreciate it and it makes me really happy! Oh, I like to be happy :) So make me happy, and click the little button to the left if you have any suggestions, comments, or if you found a mistake. Thanks!


	7. Worries of Wormtail&Dumbledore's Demands

Worries of Wormtail and Dumbledore's Demands 

"What do you want, James?" Sirius asked, once James had pulled him well out of earshot of Lily.

"What I want," James said in a hiss that sprayed his friend with spit, "is to know why you were with Lily when you should've been with me!"

"Prongs, mate," Sirius said, smirking, "don't shove that wand any further up your arse, or you'll have to go to St. Mungo's and have it removed by a Healer."

"Padfoot, this isn't funny," James said.

"Fine, fine," Sirius said, twirling his own wand around his fingers. "If you _must_ know, I thought Lily might want someone to talk to about her problems with her sister, so I told her about my problems with my family. I wanted to let her know that she wasn't the only person who felt upset, and that she could come talk to me if she wanted. Are you happy now?"

James ran a hand through his hair and ruffled it, a vacant expression on his face. "Are you sure that's all you were doing?" James asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"YES!" Sirius exclaimed, clearly exasperated. "We were just talking down by the lake!"

James sighed. "I'm sorry, Padfoot," he said, his voice losing the vehement anger it held moments before. "It's just, you know how I am about Lily."

"Yeah, mate," Sirius said, slapping him on the shoulder, "completely paranoid and insane. We all get that way sometimes. Just look at Moony's reaction to somebody touching his precious chocolate!"

"So, let's go to the Great Hall to get some lunch, eh?" James said, laughing at Sirius's last comment.

"Right," Sirius said, as they walked into the Great Hall.

Getting to the Gryffindor table, they sat next to Remus. "Guys," Remus said with a worried look on his face, "Have you seen Peter lately?"

"No," James said, looking up and down the table. "Have you, Padfoot?"

"Nope," Sirius said, shrugging and shoving down a slice of roast beef. "Don wor bap hip, oopy!" he said, his mouth full of food.

"Sorry?" Remus said, looking at Sirius with an expression of mild disgust.

Sirius swallowed with apparent difficulty. "I said, 'don't worry about him, Moony'."

"Well," Remus said, "I thought someone should, and since nobody else seemed to care, I took it upon myself to see that someone did."

"Calm down, Moony," Sirius said seriously, wagging his fork (which was now covered in mashed potatoes) at him, "it's not like he's joined the ranks of the Death Eaters and is planning all of our deaths this very second!"

"You know, Moony, he does have a fair point," James said, grinning. "He probably locked himself in the bathroom or something."

"I suppose you're right, Prongs," Remus said with a sigh as he turned to fill up his plate with food. "Though I can't help but wonder where he's disappearing to." He ladled some mashed potatoes onto his plate. "He's usually with us all the time, almost like a stalker. Don't you find that unusual?"

"Well," Sirius said, "the stalking was a bit unusual, yes…especially that time he watched me snog that girl, I forgot her name, and he was all up in our faces, trying to see exactly how we did it. So yes, all in all, I would say that the stalking was very unusual."

"No, you dolt," Remus said, throwing a pea at his head. "I meant that it's unusual that we rarely ever see him anymore after that behavior."

"Oh!" Sirius exclaimed stupidly. "I _get_ it now!"

The Marauders spent most of the afternoon playing Exploding Snaps and Wizard's Chess, sneaking into the kitchens, and roaming around the school. They didn't bother going to dinner, since they had stolen a load of food from the kitchens. Before James knew it, it was almost 8:00. "Guys," he shouted over the exploding of the Exploding Snaps, "I've got to go! I've got a meeting with Lily and Dumbledore!"

Sirius gave him the thumbs up, and he walked out of the portrait hole and into the corridor. He stood and stared at the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office, trying to remember the password that he was told. Finally it clicked. "Drooble's Best Blowing Gum," he said confidently. The gargoyle cackled maliciously.

"Nope," it said. "That was last year's."

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE BLOODY KIDDING ME!" James screamed, kicking the stone with his foot. This only induced pain in his toe, causing it to throb horribly. This was how Lily found him, jumping up and down on one foot in front of Dumbledore's office, a stream of hexes and swear words coming from his lips.

"Fizzing Whisbees," she said, smirking at James, who was still hopping around.

"You got it," the stone gargoyle said. "Do a favor for this guy over here," he said, pointing a stone finger at James, "and watch out for him. He's incapable of doing it himself."

Lily's smirk grew as she looked at James. "Come on, Potter," she said, grabbing hold of his ear (no easy feat for her, what with being a good six inches shorter than him) and pulling him towards the spiral staircase leading to Dumbledore's office, letting go of his ear only twice; once to scratch her nose and the second time because she was knocking on Dumbledore's door.

"Enter," Dumbledore said. Lily let go of James' ear ("finally!" he breathed) and opened up the door.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore," Lily said. "You told James and I to come to your office at 8:00, sir."

"Yes," Dumbledore said calmly, "take a seat." He gestured to the two chairs located in front of his desk. "There is an urgent matter that I wish to discuss with the two of you."

James and Lily nodded, looking slightly puzzled.

"Now, Mr. Potter and Miss Evans, am I right to believe that you have both read the _Daily Prophet_ this morning?" Dumbledore asked, surveying them over the tips of his interlaces fingers.

"Yes, Professor," James said tensely.

"Please, sir," Lily asked, fidgeting in her seat under the intense gaze of the headmaster, "what does the explosion have to do with us?"

"Alas," Dumbledore said wistfully, "no one can be sure of that. However, I was merely making certain that you knew of Lord Voldemort's rise to power. As you know, many are joining the ranks of Lord Voldemort."  
"But Professor," James interjected, "I still don't see what this has to do with Lily and I."

"Ah, James, patience is a virtue," Dumbledore said, smiling. "To return to what I was saying before, many are joining the ranks of Lord Voldemort, becoming part of the feared group of followers that call themselves Death Eaters."

"Yes," Lily said anxiously, "I've heard of them. They wear black cloaks and pointed hoods and horrible masks that look like skulls. Their sign is the Dark Mark, a gruesome skull with a snake slithering out of its mouth. That's what was over the explosion. The Ministry doesn't want to admit it, but that's the proof that Voldemort was responsible for it."

"Yes, Miss Evans, that is true," Dumbledore said, impressed. "Now, for the reason that I have summoned you both here." James and Lily sat up a little straighter, and James moved up to the edge of his chair. "I have heard rumors that Lord Voldemort is trying to recruit students in Hogwarts, to inform him of the goings on inside the school. Therefore, your rounds will be extended. You will patrol the halls until 10:30. You will look out for any suspicious behavior among your peers. You will watch out for any clusters of witches or wizards that are whispering, acting secretively, or meeting after hours."

"Yes, sir," James said, saluting.

Dumbledore chuckled and continued, "Do you know anybody who seems to be acting suspiciously?"

James' mind immediately went to Peter, who hadn't been seen since breakfast the morning before last. He shook his head violently and pushed the thought to the back of his mind. "No, sir," Lily and James said at the same time. James said it half-heartedly, though, and resolved to talk to Sirius and Remus about it the next day.

"Then that is all," Dumbledore said, and James and Lily stood up. "Good night, Mr. Potter. Miss Evans."

Once back in the corridor, James was talking in a fervent whisper to Lily about what Dumbledore had just told them. "Do you reckon what he said is right?" he asked her.

"I don't know," Lily whispered back with a sigh, running her fingers through her hair. "I mean, it's Voldemort, isn't he? Does anybody know what he would or wouldn't do?"

"It's scary, though," James said, "to think of the amount of people he would kill just to get the world the way he wants it."

"Yeah," Lily said, nodding her head with a little more force than necessary, "not to mention the cruelty of it all." She mimed pointing a wand at people. " It's like, 'You there, you've got a Muggle mother. Bye! Hey, you, you're a friend of a mudblood. Bye! You, you hate the entire race of Muggles, so you're safe.' It's just disgusting!"

"It's so bloody stupid, how people can think up these things," James said, and Lily shushed him. His voice was beginning to carry, and they thought it would be best if nobody knew about the conversation they were having. "I don't understand how somebody can just decide that there's such a thing as good blood and bad blood. Clean blood and dirty blood. It's all red, isn't it?"

"That's very philosophical, James," Lily said.

James scoffed. "Philosophical my arse, Lily. It's the truth! And there aren't even enough purebloods left. If we didn't marry Muggles, then the whole Wizarding world would die out!"

"I just wish there was something we could do to stop him," Lily said with a sniff.

James said the password to get into the Heads dormitory, shut the door behind them, and turned to face Lily. "Lily," he said in a very serious and quiet voice, "have you ever heard of the Order of the Phoenix?"

**A/N: So, everything is hunky-dory with James and Sirius…just a little thing…oh, and I won't update as often if I don't get more reviews, I want feedback on how you guys like it so far! Once again: if you have any comments, suggestions, or if you found a mistake, review! Even if you don't have any comments suggestions or whatever, review anyways, because I would like to know your opinion about how my story is going so far. Even if you think it's bogus. Thanks!**


	8. James PotterMy Protector?

James Potter…My Protector? 

"No," Lily said slowly as James pulled down the curtains in the Heads common room and sitting down by the fire. "What is it?"

"Well, I'm not really supposed to know about it," James said truthfully, staring into the fire and scratching his chin.

"James," Lily said softly, sitting down beside him and putting a hand on his shoulder, "tell me about it."

"My parents are in it," he said definitively, as though this explained everything. He was still staring at the embers in the fireplace, but his eyes turned glassy. Lily moved a little closer to him.

"Well, that explains how you know about it," Lily said with a chuckle.

"It's not a laughing matter," James said, turning his head to look at her. He was not mad at her for laughing; he was simply serious. "They were the perfect candidates for the Order, because they are both Aurors. They were handpicked by Mad-Eye himself. You know, Moody, the head Auror?" Lily nodded, and he continued. "Anyway, the Order of the Phoenix is a secret group founded by Dumbledore designed to bring down Voldemort. Some people work to find out what he's up to, some people work to tell people about the Order, some people work to convince others that Voldemort is bad news…There's a whole bunch of things that people do."

"And your parents are in it?" Lily asked, her eyes wide.

"Yeah," James said quietly, examining his palms.

"Wow," Lily whispered. "Are you scared for them?"

James stood up abruptly. "I've got to get to sleep, Lily," he said gruffly, not quite meeting her eye. "Quidditch practice tomorrow morning."

"Oh," Lily said, sounding hurt. "Okay, then."

Lily stayed in her dorm all day, reading a novel and eating snacks that her friends brought up to her from the Great Hall. It wasn't until 9:15 at night that she got up to do rounds with James.

However, James wasn't in the Heads common room. _He must already be patrolling_, Lily thought. _I shouldn't have asked about his parents last night. We were getting along so good until then! _She walked along the deserted halls, watching for wrongdoers but not really paying much attention. _I can't believe it. I probably ruined my chances a while ago. I mean, who would've guessed that I would've fallen in love with—_

"Snape?"

"That's right, Evans," the Slytherin said. He was rather taller than her (but then again, who wasn't?), with greasy black hair and an overlarge nose that reminded Lily strongly of a toucan.

Lily froze dead in her tracks. "What are you doing out this late?" Lily asked, eyeing him suspiciously. "You know that students aren't allowed out of their common rooms past 9:00. It's already 9:45!"

"And why should I care about school rules, Evans?" Snape asked her slyly, reaching his hand into his robes, where Lily was sure there was a wand. "After all, it's the seventh year. I'm ready to move on to bigger and better things." Lily barely had time to whip out her wand. "_Petrificus Totalus_!" Snape exclaimed, but Lily blocked the spell with a Shielding Charm.

This happened several times with different spells. Lily was growing tired of dodging and shielding spells. Suddenly she heard footsteps running towards the dark corner of the corridor that they were fighting in.

_Oh no_, Lily thought with a sinking feeling of dread, _Snape's got reinforcements. How am I going to fight more people?_

"Let her alone!" a voice shouted from her left, and Lily looked to see where the voice was coming from. There was a figure to the left of her pulling out a wand.

"No, Potter, I don't think I will," Snape said. "I know some people who she will be of good use to."

"Oh really?" James said sardonically. "Well, that's good then, isn't it, because you can't seem to be of use to anybody. Now sod off, Snape, before I hex you."

"I will, simply because I have better things to do than to watch you protect a girl who won't have you, though I must admit it is rather amusing. But be warned: next time worse things will happen to those you love." Snape turned on his heels and started to leave.

"Is that a threat?" James called after him.

"No," Snape drawled, not bothering to turn around. "It's a promise."

James ignored Snape and turned to face Lily, who was leaning against the wall of the corridor. "Lily," he said urgently, " are you okay?"

"Yeah, James, I'm fine," Lily said, standing up and starting to walk towards the next corridor. "I'm just tired of doing shielding charms, is all."

"Well, we still have fifteen minutes of patrolling to do. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, Regulus Black was giving some third year trouble."

"That's Sirius's brother," Lily said, "right?"

"Well, in blood only. Sirius told me that he spoke to you about his family," James said, walking alongside Lily.

"Yes," Lily said, "and his family made my sister seem like a kind, loving person."

"She's not?" James asked. Of course, he remembered the conversation with Shayna, but he wanted to hear it from Lily herself. It would show that she trusted him enough to tell him.

Lily laughed. "Oh, anything but! We were practically best friends until I started coming here. She got all icy and cold towards me. I suppose she's just jealous. Anyway, I told my family about Voldemort a few summers ago, and she's blamed me for it. She says that if it weren't for me, my whole family would be safe." Lily sighed. "Maybe she's right."

"Lily, nobody's safe when Voldemort's still out in the open," James said softly. "Not even his followers are safe from him."

"Yes, you're right," Lily said, "I was being stupid."

"No," James said as he stopped walking. "You weren't being stupid. Everybody feels guilty in some shape or form; everybody thinks that they are endangering their family somehow. Sometimes I wonder whether my family would be better off if I didn't cause so much trouble with Snivellus."

"James," Lily said softly, "you are probably the most caring wizard I have ever met."

The next thing Lily knew, strong arms were wrapped around her as James hugged her. "And you, Lily," he whispered into her hair, "are probably the most gorgeous witch I have ever met."

"I think I can live with that," Lily said, laughing.

"Lily, will you go out with me?" James asked her, still hugging her.

"Don't push your luck, Potter," she said, smirking, before pushing through his arms and walking away, leaving a rather depressed James in her wake.

A/N: Like I said, Lily's actions will be explained in a later chapter called Q and A. Anyways, thanks sooooooooo much to everybody who's reviewing and reading :) it means SO MUCH to me…thanks for reading. The next two chapters are very short compared to these, and I'm sorry for that…I was thinking of combining them into one chapter, but that wouldn't work. So, you just have two short chapters…to make it up to you I'll post them both on the same day :). So, click the little button and review, and it'll make me update faster! Thanks..


	9. The Full Moon

**The Full Moon**

James walked—stomped, rather—to the Heads dormitory with his shoulders hunched and his head down. He couldn't stop thinking of Lily. Everything reminded him of Lily: the portrait of the lady holding the flowers, the red carpeting in the corridors, and even Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat! The way she looked out for wrongdoers, it was so much like Lily that he was afraid of becoming infatuated with the cat!

James sighed as he walked through the portrait hole and into the Heads common room. Lily was sitting by the dying fire, staring at the embers pensively. There was nothing for it; he would have to talk to her to see why she kept refusing him.

Lily turned at the sound of him kicking off his trainers. He was still scowling menacingly. "James," she said tentatively, "what's wrong?"

He didn't answer her, but took a seat next to her by the fire.

"James, what's wrong?" she asked again. He still didn't answer. "James," she said, taking his large hand in her delicate one and rubbing circles on the back of his with her thumb, "if you don't tell me what's wrong then I will be forced to tell Dumbledore that it was you that put the coloring spell in Professor Flitwick's drink to make him look like an oompa-loompa for a day."

"Fine," James said, paying more attention to the feeling of Lily's hand in his rather than what he was agreeing to.

"So, what's wrong?" Lily asked, taking her hand out of his and pulling her legs under her.

James took a deep breath. _How can I tell her everything that's going wrong? I can't do rounds tomorrow because it's the full moon and I need to go with Remus for his transformation. Telling her that would mean betraying Remus, and I would never do that. Then there's the fact that my parents are currently searching for the most dangerous wizard ever. Oh, and how could I forget that SHE is the one that is ripping my heart to shreds?_ James looked at Lily. Her hair was messy and full of knots, and her makeup was smudged, and he still thought that she looked beautiful. "Lily," he said quietly, "if I told you everything that was wrong, you would think I was losing my marbles."

Lily laughed. "I think that anyway, James," she said sarcastically. Then her tone softened. "Seriously, James, I wouldn't think that."

"I'm sorry, Lily, I just don't want to talk about it." So much for talking to her to see why she kept refusing him. He stood up and walked toward the stairs leading to his bed. "G'night, Lily."

"'Night, James," Lily said, sighing.

James, Sirius, and Peter walked slowly and with baited breath. One more staircase, two more corridors, and the oak front doors left. They were under James's Invisibility Cloak that he inherited from his father, walking slowly so they wouldn't be seen. James and Sirius were bending low so that their feet weren't seen; Peter, being short, could walk upright without any problem.

James checked his watch. "Come on guys," he whispered, "we have to hurry up. Remus said that the moon rises at 9:00 tonight, and it's already 8:40!"

"Prongs, why don't you and Peter go on ahead? I'm just slowing you down and taking up more of the cloak," Sirius said.

"Okay," James said hesitantly, glancing anxiously down the empty corridor.

"Once I get outside, I'll turn into the dog. Don't worry about me, Prongs. Moony needs you guys," Sirius said, stepping out from under the invisibility cloak.

"See you soon, Paddy," Peter squeaked from under the cloak, his voice coming from the end of the corridor. Sirius waved a hand and started walking, his heart pounding. They hadn't realized how much they had grown over the summer (with the exception of Peter, who alone was able to look the petite Lily Evans in the eye); it was even harder to fit into the cloak than it was before!

He wasn't walking for five minutes before a shadow loomed in the corner of the corridor. Sirius's breath quickened and heart skipped. Suddenly someone wearing a dark cloak stepped out in front of him. A certain someone with extremely greasy hair and a hooked, pointed nose.

"Snivellus, you oversized bat, what are you doing out this late?" Sirius spat viciously.

"Think you're so cool, do you?" Snape said, his voice deathly quiet as he stepped closer, his cloak making him seem to glide.

"No, I don't think that," Sirius said, puffing out his chest proudly, "I know it."

"Don't be a prat, Black," Snape said, his voice barely audible as he stepped even closer to Sirius, so that they were barely an inch apart.

"Snape, I know you're madly in love with me," Sirius said, smirking, "but please, if you get any closer I'll have to take a shower to rid myself of the grease."

Snape snarled as Sirius backed up. "Careful where you throw your insults, Black. I'm sure Shayna wouldn't be proud."

"You leave Sha-Sha out of this," Sirius hissed.

"Oh, how precious," Snape said maliciously. "Pet names."

"Snivellus, I'm warning you," Sirius growled menacingly.

"What are you going to do?" Snape asked, snickering. "Make me a pet name?" Sirius swore. "Language, Black," Snape said carelessly. "Anyway, I doubt _Sha-Sha_ would appreciate your horrible manners."

"I told you already, leave her out of this!" Sirius said angrily, his voice rising.

"Make me," Snape said, whose voice was growing steadily quieter. "Tell me where Remus goes," he said suddenly.

Sirius was ready to blow from all his anger. "You want to know where he goes? Why don't you take a little trip down to the Whomping Willow and find out?" he exclaimed quickly, not realizing the damage he had just caused.

"Oh," Snape said silkily, "believe me, I will. So long, Black." He turned on his heels and ran, his black cloak billowing eerily behind him.

"Oh bugger," Sirius said, slapping his hand to his forehead. "What have I done?"

He broke into a run, transforming into a dog as he did so. Sirius thanked Merlin that Snape had foolishly left the door open. He passed Snape, who thought nothing of the big black dog running past him. He pushed the knob on the root of the Whomping Willow. The branches froze and he bounded down the passageway to the Shrieking Shack, where he transformed into a human again.

"PRONGS!" he screamed, careful not to walk upstairs, because that was where Remus was. "PRONGS, SNAPE'S COMING! HEAD HIM OFF!"

A stag ran down the stairs and transformed into a breathless James, who looked at Sirius questioningly.

"Prongs, go. There's no time!" Sirius exclaimed nervously. I'll try and head off Remus."

James ran down the passageway, desperate to stop Snape before it was too late. James was out of breath and holding his side by the time he found him halfway to the Shrieking Shack.

"Snape!" he gasped, skidding to a stop a few inches in front of him.

"Hello, Potter," Snape said icily, attempting to push James aside. He had little luck though, as James was muscular from Quidditch and Snape…well, to put it nicely, Snape was not. "I've come for the surprise. Black told me I would find Remus here."

"Snape, you have no idea," James said frantically, shaking his head violently and pushing Snape towards the mouth of the passageway. "You have _no idea_ what's down this passageway and trust me, you really don't want to find—" James stopped. He heard a snarl coming from a few feet behind him. He wheeled around slowly and found himself face-to-face with Remus.

"SNAPE, RUN!" James shouted, but he didn't need to. Snape was already clambering out of the opening to the passageway, and James was following as a big black dog bounded out to stop the werewolf, who snapped viciously at his heels.

They ran until they were back inside the castle. "I'm going to Dumbledore," Snape said, his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

"NO!" James shouted. He was not as out of breath as Snape was, because of the tactics his Quidditch team often used.

He was too late. Snape was already ascending the marble staircases that lead to Dumbledore's office. James followed, going up the stairs three at a time to catch up to him. "Don't—go—Dumbledore," James managed to get out as he was panting.

"Don't be stupid, Potter," Snape said, turning his head to face him, smirking. "I'm afraid this is the end of your friend Remus."

James stopped short and so did Snape. Dumbledore was towering in front of them, frowning slightly. "Is there something going on here that would explain why the two of you are out of your beds at 11:00 at night on such a night as this?"

"Yes, Professor," Snape said, sneaking a triumphant glance at James, who frowned. "Remus Lupin is a werewolf."

"And how did you discover this, Severus?" Dumbledore asked. He didn't seem troubled, but his frown became more pronounced.

"Well, sir," Snape said with a triumphant tone, "Sirius Black told me that I should go down to the Whomping Willow for a surprise about Remus, so I went. I found James running to head me off, with a werewolf behind him. I figured that the werewolf was Remus. I thought you should know that there is a werewolf residing in your school."

Dumbledore looked at James, then back at Snape. "Severus, thank you for warning me, though I know what Remus is. It was with my permission that Remus was allowed to come to Hogwarts. I planted the Willow so that there would be no danger of students following him to where his transformations would take place."

Snape looked disheartened. "Oh," he said coldly, staring at the floor.

"James, kindly tell Mr. Black that I would like to speak with him tomorrow," Dumbledore said, turning to James. He then turned back to Snape again. "Severus, if you tell anyone what you saw tonight, it will lead in your immediate expulsion from this school. Do you understand?"

Snape looked as though expulsion would be worth spilling Remus' secret, but then decided against it. After all, if his plans for after Hogwarts would take place, he would need a completed education. "Yes," Snape said, "I understand, sir."

"Good," Dumbledore said. "Now, head off to bed, both of you." He turned and left without another word.

James pulled out his wand. "I don't care what the law is about the Unforgivables," James said, pointing it at Snap and grimacing. "If you tell a single soul I will Crucio you to insanity."

_**A/N: Okay, so I lied. The NEXT two chapters are going to be really short…but then the ones after that are 4 pages long on word, so yeah…Um, you know the deal: review it, please! Thanks.**_


	10. You Told!

You Told! 

Lily stood in her dormitory, leaning on the wall and listening to James yelling. _He never gets this mad_, Lily thought. _I wonder what Sirius did?_

"SIRIUS," James bellowed in the Heads common room below her. "HOW COULD YOU TELL HIM SOMETHING LIKE THAT? REMUS IS OUR BEST MATE!"

Sirius's voice floated up the stairs to where Lily was standing, but she couldn't make out what he was saying.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'IT SLIPPED'? HOW CAN SOMETHING THAT IMPORTANT SLIP?"

More mumbles from Sirius.

"IT WASN'T YOUR SECRET TO TELL! YOU COULD'VE KILLED HIM! YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN US ALL EXPELLED!" A smashing noise came from downstairs. "_Reparo_," James said, a little quieter than how he was yelling (but not much).

Lily had had enough. She opened the door of her bedroom and walked down the stairs to more shouting.

"GUYS!" she screamed, cupping her hands around her mouth. "GUYS!" They turned to face her; Sirius's face was glum and he looked miserable (who wouldn't when James was screaming at them) and James was livid. "Stop it," Lily said, walking in between them. "This is ridiculous! You guys are best friends. What did Sirius do that could ruin that?"

"He told!" James said, pulling out his wand and pointing it at Sirius. "He told!"

"Maybe I should take this away," Lily said, snatching James's wand away from him and pocketing it. Sirius looked at her and mouthed 'thank you'. "James, what did Sirius tell, and to whom?"

"He told Snape that Remus is a werewolf!" James exclaimed, pointing at Sirius.

Sirius's eyes widened as Lily clamped a hand over her mouth in astonishment. "YOU TOLD!" he screamed. "JAMES YOU TOLD!"

Lily, however, wasn't paying attention. "Of course," she said to herself. "Moony! I don't know why I didn't see it before!" She ran out of the portrait hole and to the hospital wing, where she found Remus eating some chocolate.

James and Sirius burst into the hospital wing seconds later, faces flushed and out of breath. "Moony, it's all my fault," Sirius panted.

"No, it's mine," James said.

"Both of ours," they both said at the same time.

"I was yelling at Padfoot for telling Snivellus about your furry little problem, and then Lily came and asked what was wrong and I guess it just slipped and Snivellus isn't allowed to tell because he'll get expelled because Dumbledore found us yesterday when you were in the Shrieking Shack but now Lily knows and I'm just really, really sorry."

"James," Lily said briskly. "Stop babbling. I don't care if he's a werewolf. I honestly don't."

"Prongs, Padfoot," Remus said, "I was going to tell Lily soon anyway. And Snape can go in a ditch. Just forget it."

Lily sighed. "Men."

**A/N: I'm feeling nice today, so I gave you two chapters :) read the next one!**


	11. A News Broadcast

_A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Silverwings…we made this up as a joke and I decided to put it in…Um…see the author's note at the bottom after you read it to see what is important and should be remembered from these two chapters. :)_ News Broadcasts 

October came quickly, and with it colder weather and early morning frosts. Friendships developed between Jocelyn and Remus, and Shayna was even yelling at Sirius less often than the year before. James and Lily were a bit friendlier than before, but that isn't saying much seeing as they fought almost constantly.

Peter was around the Marauders less and less. Everyone was beginning to get suspicious, but no one said a word about their worries. They all wanted to believe that Peter was just in the library trying to pick up girls, but there was still doubt in each of their minds.

Jocelyn and Remus talked to each other as though they had been friends all their lives. Lily noticed this and was glad; she and Shayna knew that Jocelyn had fancied Remus since the beginning of fifth year, and that Remus felt the same way (at least, that was what Sirius said when they discussed it).

It was the week before Halloween. James and Lily were patrolling the corridors, Sirius was sitting in the common room trying to talk to Shayna, and Remus and Jocelyn were in a corner of the room, whispering. Sirius wasn't paying them any attention.

Suddenly Shayna jabbed him in the ribs, hard. "Sirius, you dolt," she said, trying not to laugh as she pointed to where Jocelyn and Remus were sitting, absorbed in…other things.

"Eurgh!" Sirius grimaced. "There's nothing more disturbing than watching one of your best mates snogging!"

"I know how we could get them to stop," Shayna said, and whispered something in his ear, laughing as his face brightened at the prospect of the plan.

Sirius stood up and put on a very serious face. "This is Sirius Black, news reporter, Gryffindor, Marauder, and Supreme Sex-God of All Hogwarts," he said in a voice even deeper than usual, as Shayna gave him a reproachful look for the way he introduced himself, "reporting to you live from the Gryffindor common room, where a most unusual happening, which most thought would be impossible, is occurring. I am talking, of course, about the hooking-up of one Remus Lupin and Jocelyn Johnson, who are currently snogging in the comfortable armchair in the corner. What could have possessed the two to engage in such carefree and reckless…activities? That is the question that remains unanswered. I am Sirius Black, news reporter, Gryffindor, Marauder, and Supreme Sex-God of All Hogwarts, reporting to you live. Tune in next time, for Sleaze with Sirius." He sat down and turned to face Remus and Jocelyn, who were looking at him with immense scowls on their faces.

A/N: Okay, those two chapters were short little mish-mosh things, so I decided to give them both to you at the same time…here's what was important in those two chapters: 1. Lily knows about Remus' "furry little problem". 2. Remus and Jocelyn are now a "thing". Next chapter's coming soon, and I promise, it's really really long…5 pages on Word…so it'll make up for these two short mish-mosh things. Review, please! Thanks.


	12. The Truth About Loss and Gain

Warning: This chapter is really really really sad. I kinda cried when I was typing it…I just felt the need to warn you. The next few chapters are sad too. But I hope you don't give up on it, there's still a lot of interesting stuff going on. Anyways, enjoy: The Truth About Loss and Gain 

Two months passed since that incident. Snow covered the Hogwarts grounds. The corridors were cold and drafty, and Herbology was often canceled due to the weather. Christmas was in the air; teachers were giving less homework purely out of holiday spirit, Mrs. Norris was wearing tinsel around her neck, and even Filch could be seen whistling Christmas carols while mopping the floors. Everyone was excited and happy to go home and spend Christmas with their families.

Everyone, that is, except for Lily and James. They would both be staying at Hogwarts for Christmas. They would be the only Gryffindors in seventh year that were staying. Peter went to visit his sick aunt in Scotland. Sirius, Shayna, and Remus were all invited to Jocelyn's house for Christmas break. James and Lily declined the offer, as both needed to watch for any suspicious behavior.

Lily was dreading spending an entire week with only James for company. Sure, they had become friendlier than they had been in the past, but James was still very distant with her. They had only talked once or twice about what was happening outside of Hogwarts; there had been five more attacks much like the one from the first week of school, and three families had been found dead in their homes. Lily found herself worrying about James and his parents on numerous occasions, but never said anything to James for fear she would make him upset or angry with her.

Lily walked into the Heads common room (after patrolling the corridors) the day term ended to find James sitting on the couch by the fire, reading a book entitled _The Aura of an Auror_. "What are you reading, James?" she asked. As a response, James held up the book and showed her the cover. Lily sighed. He had been like this for ages now. She knew that something was up. "Oh," she said, walking up the stairs and to her dorm. "Well, good night," she called down the steps. She didn't receive an answer.

That was how it was every day leading up to Christmas. The same icy indifference that was driving Lily insane. She pretended it didn't bother her, but inside she was hurt that he could change so much in so little time.

James wasn't at the feast Christmas Eve. Lily, after dining alone to one corner of the one table the staff and students were using during the holidays, walked into the Heads common room expecting to see James reading a book and ignoring her completely. What she found was an empty room with a note on a nightstand.

_Dear Lily,_ it said, _I am sorry I left you to eat alone at dinner tonight. I couldn't stand facing anybody. If you want to talk, I'm in my room. James._

"He can't stand facing anybody?" Lily wondered aloud. "What could he mean by that?" She ran up the stairs that lead to James's dormitory and knocked on his door. "James," she said softly, "can I come in?" She didn't hear an answer, but she opened the door anyway. Tears sprang into her eyes.

James was sitting on his bed, staring out the window. His eyes were swollen and red, and he was holding a letter with an official-looking seal on it. "Oh Merlin," Lily breathed, and she ran up to James and hugged him with all her might. His arms wrapped around her. For how long they stayed like that, they never knew. It could have been a second, a minute, or maybe even an hour. It didn't matter to them. It seemed to Lily that James was holding on to her for dear life.

"James," Lily whispered, brushing a piece of his hair out of his eyes with a shaking finger, "what happened?"

For an answer, James handed Lily the letter, which was crumpled and tear-stained. As Lily read the letter, her eyes filled with tears and her hands shook so she could barely read it.

_Dear James Harold Potter,_

_ It is with deepest remorse that I write to you now. As you know, your parents were top Aurors working for the Ministry of Magic. They were sent to destroy Voldemort in the beginning of September, along with a band of other wizards and witches. Your house was found in half-ruin at five o'clock this evening with the Dark Mark over it. It is with sorrow that I inform you that both of your parents were in the house doing research on Voldemort when the attack took place, and that their bodies were found. The funeral will take place on January first. It is then that a Ministry official will meet with you to discuss their wills._

_ With deepest sympathy,_

Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic 

The letters became blurred. Lily's vision was obscured by a vast amount of tears glistening in her eyes and streaming down her cheeks. She turned to face James again, dropping the letter to the floor, and hugged him tight, sobbing into his shirt. She heard sniffling and looked up to see James, his face stained with dry tears. "I'm so sorry, James," she whispered when she calmed down. "So, so, so sorry."

"They were good people," James said, his voice cracking as a few lone tears trickled down his nose.

Lily hugged him again, moving closer so that she was practically sitting on his lap. "I—" Lily said, hiccupping slightly, "—I—well—is there anything I can do?"

James didn't answer, but held her close, so that she moved into his lap. Her arms were around his neck. She made to kiss him on the cheek, but he turned his head. Their lips met. The kiss was soft, sweet, and tender, and told of years of love. "Go out with me, Lily?" James asked, a small smile on his tear-stained face.

Lily kissed him again, running her fingers through his hair as his hands snaked around her waist, pulling her a little closer. When she pulled back, she blushed. "Please don't take this as rejection," she said in his ear, kissing his cheek lightly.

"I doubt anyone could, Lily," James said, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. She felt goose bumps erupt on her arms as his finger brushed lightly against her forehead. "Who would've thought," James whispered in awe, more to himself than to Lily. "Lily Evans actually saying yes to me!"

"James, you really talk too much," Lily said, her amusement apparent in her voice. "In fact, I'd say you talk more than any—mmphf—" James cut her off with a kiss that began gently but deepened rather quickly, leaving both of them slightly breathless when they pulled back.

"Lily," James whispered, "I'd say you talk too much, too." He tried—and failed—to stifle a yawn. Lily looked at the clock on his wall just as it chimed twelve.

"You should get to sleep, James," Lily said, ruffling up his hair.

"I thought you didn't like it messy," James said, raising an eyebrow at her and ignoring her comment completely.

"I changed my mind," Lily said softly. "James, you should really get to sleep." She stood up and kissed him on his cheek.

"Don't," James said quietly.

"But I thought you just asked me—" Lily started, thinking he meant that she shouldn't kiss him.

"No," James said, grabbing her hand and pulling her back onto his bed, "Don't go."

Lily smiled. "Oh," she said. "That's what you meant." She crawled under his covers and so did he.

"You would have liked them," James said wistfully, putting an arm around her waist. "My parents, I mean." He pulled out his wand and waved it; all the candles went out and they were left in semi-complete darkness, broken only by the half-moon shining through the window.

"What were they like?" Lily asked him softly, bringing her arm around his shoulder and making circles on his back with her finger.

"Well, my mum was a clean freak," James said, laughing. "She always made sure that the rooms were clean. She even cleaned up after the house elves, complaining about dust that only she could see. Sometimes I wondered what she would do if there was nothing to complain about. But she was really good about Sirius's family problems. When he came looking for a place to stay, she took him in no problem. And she cooked as good as the house elves in the school. Her cherry pies were the best things in this world, other than you, Lily."

James paused and kissed her cheek. Lily was glad it was dark so that he couldn't see her blush. "She sounds like a nice person," Lily said quietly.

"She was," James said reflectively. "She gave me everything and more. We had a pool in our backyard that was so big it was almost like swimming in a small lake. We had a mini Quidditch pitch. We had brooms, quaffles, bludgers, beaters' bats, and snitches. You name it, we had it."

"Wow," Lily said in awe. "What was your father like?"

"My dad was the best. He was actually a lot like Sirius. He had this really loud voice that you could hear from one end of the house to the other, and he used to make jokes all the time. His favorite one was about the hag, the warlock, and the acromantula."

"Oh, I've heard of that one!" Lily said enthusiastically. "It's one of my favorites!"

"Yeah," James said, "mine too. Anyway, he would always play pranks on my mum, who would yell a bit and then laugh it off. He couldn't cook at all. One time, he tried making a salad, and managed to somehow burn a hole in the roof. I've no idea how he did that." Lily chuckled and James paused. "It's just so hard, knowing that I'll never see them again."

"Well, I don't know if this is true or not, but my mum once told me that when a person dies, a new star appears in the sky. That star will watch over you, sort of like a guardian angel. And when you make a wish, it goes to that star." Lily paused. "It sounded like a nice thought at the time," she said bashfully, embarrassed when James didn't say anything.

"I think it's wonderful," James whispered. "Lily, we should get to sleep."

"Alright," she said.

James fell asleep shortly after that, and Lily was comforted by his deep, even breathing. His arm was still around her, and hers around him. They stayed like that all night, arms around one another.

**A/N: OMIGOSH I'm sorry it was so sad. Again. Anyway, if you want to read another interesting story that makes my story seem like dog doo-doo, check out my friend's story: Love Throughout Time by SilverwingsJP…she's amazing. Her story kicks my story's butt. No joke. But, before you read that, REVIEW PLEASE:-) no matter how mean I am with my morbid chapters…sorry again, by the way.**


	13. Letters From Somewhere

_A/N: Okay, so I started a new updating system: I'll update 2 times a week, once over the weekend and once on a Wednesday. Those are the days you should check…but I might update in between if I really want to get something out :)_ Letters From Somewhere 

James woke up to find his arms wrapped around Lily Evans, like he had only two months before. Before Lily had walked into his room the night before, he had been dreading the morning. Now he knew he had someone on his side, and that someone was the one person he needed the most. He smiled to himself and looked down at Lily, who was sleeping peacefully.

Very carefully and slowly (so as not to wake her), he got out of bed and down to the Heads common room, where he had dropped his schoolbag on the last day of term. He pulled out a quill and three rolls of parchment, planning on writing a letter to Sirius and Remus (who were staying in the same house), and then to Peter, about everything that had happened the night before.

_Dear Moony and Padfoot,_

_ I decided to write to both of you in the same letter, seeing as you guys are both staying at the same house. Anyway, last night was pretty…interesting (No, Padfoot, I didn't do anything that you would've done.)._ At that point he paused, his quill suspended inches above the parchment, wondering how in the name of Merlin he was going to put everything that happened into words. _The Minister sent me a letter. _(Here there were many scratched-out sentences, as James couldn't find a way to put his parent's death into words)_ He said that Voldemort murdered my parents. I'm pretty upset, but I can't say that I wasn't expecting it. I mean, if somebody is sent to capture Voldemort, they really have no chance. The Ministry just doesn't take him seriously enough._

_ I didn't eat dinner last night. I wrote a letter to Lily saying that if she wanted to talk to me I was in my room. I honestly didn't think she was going to come up, but she did. I gave her the letter to read. The one that the Minister sent me. And then the truly amazing thing happened: SHE SAID YES! I asked her out and she said YES! SHE ACTUALLY SAID YES! Well, actually, what she did was kiss me and then say "Please don't take this as rejection" but that pretty much counts as a yes. In fact, I'd say it was more than a yes._

_ James Potter_

He sent the letter to Remus and Sirius, and sent a similar one to Peter, then returned to the Heads dormitory, smiling like a kid in a Quidditch store.

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

_A lone figure of a man cloaked all in black stood in the doorway. "My lord," he said, bowing to the man before him, "it has happened."_

_"How can you be sure?" said the man in a high, cold voice, sitting down on a thrown and fingering his wand with long, pale fingers._

_"I am quite sure, Lord Voldemort," the figure said._

_"You dare speak my name?" Voldemort asked quietly in a vehement hiss._

_"No, my lord, I am quite sorry, it slipped!" the man said quickly and nervously, kneeling at Voldemort's feet and kissing the hem of his robes._

_"Never mind, never mind," Voldemort hissed, still fingering his wand. The man in the cloak eyed it nervously. "Now, how did it happen, may I ask?"_

_"My lord, you killed his parents. He was very upset, and she went and comforted him. The rest is quite self-explanatory, I assure you."_

_"Indeed, indeed," Voldemort said quietly. "Where is the proof of this?"_

_The man pulled something out of his cloak and handed it to Voldemort. "It is all written there, in that letter, master," he said proudly._

_Voldemort's eyes skimmed the paper quickly. A sinister smile curled on his lips. "Very well," he said, flicking his wand at the letter. It curled into ashes upon his palm. "I am glad to see that he trusts you with such news. You have done your job well. Continue with it, and a most prized place among my followers may be yours. You must not let them know, for the consequences, my servant, will be most gruesome. Not only the punishment from the Ministry, but the punishment from myself, as well."_

_"Yes, my lord," the man said, bowing low again. "I understand."_

_"Now," Voldemort said quietly, "this is a cause for celebration, my dear servant. You have done well. Show me the Mark."_

_The man rolled up his left sleeve to reveal an image of the Dark Mark burned upon his forearm._

"_Excellent," Voldemort said, picking his wand up and placing the tip of it to the Mark. The man screamed as it burned, turning from jet-black to bright red. Death Eaters began apparating into the room. Voldemort stretched out his arms to the room. "My friends," he said as the Death Eaters bowed low, "a joyous occasion has occurred. A celebration is in order." The Death Eaters laughed, evidently enjoying the sinister meaning that the sentence held. "An attack on Muggle London is in order. Go!"_

_And, as quickly as they came, the Death Eaters departed, laughing sinisterly and rubbing their hands together at the prospect of an attack. Only the first man was left, the one who had given Lord Voldemort cause for such a 'celebration'. "My lord, I must return home. My family will get suspicious," he said cautiously._

"_Yes, yes, of course," Voldemort said distractedly. "You have done well." The man bowed and walked out of the darkened room._

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

"Lily!" James exclaimed, shaking Lily to wake her up.

"What?" Lily asked groggily, sitting up in James's bed.

"I went to the Owlery to send a letter, and I came back here and you were thrashing around! I was worried!" James certainly looked worried; he was frowning down at her and holding her close.

"It's nothing, James," Lily said, pressing her palms to her eyes. "I just had a nightmare, that's all."

James didn't look convinced. "Are you sure you're okay? Because I could take you to the Hospital Wing or something. Maybe you should see Dumbledore. I'm going to go get McGonagall."

He stood up quickly and turned to leave, but Lily grabbed his arm and pulled him back onto the bed. "I'm fine," Lily said quietly.

"Wow," James said, looking at her as though seeing her for the first time, "you're strong." He shook his head as though getting water out of his ears. "Lily, you're not fine. You're pale as snow, and you're shaking!"

"I just had a nightmare, James, really," Lily said, sighing.

"I still think you should go see McGonagall, or Dumbledore, or somebody," James said, and he began making a list of all the people she could go see.

"James, SHUT UP!" Lily said, clamping a hand over his mouth. The only thing she accomplished from this was his spit on her hand; in an attempt to get her hand off of his mouth he licked her palm. "EW!" she screamed, and proceeded to wipe her hand all over his hair. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" James just shrugged, smirking. "I'm trying to remember my dream, you dolt," Lily said, play-smacking his shoulder. She wracked her brain, trying to remember. She remembered something about a man in a cloak…or was it a woman? It was like cupping water in her hands; the more she tried to remember the more she forgot. All she knew was that it was something important.

James's arm wrapped around her shoulders. "Just forget about it, Lily," James whispered in her ear.

"James, it was important," she said, attempting to pound her forehead with her fist. James grabbed her wrists and brought them down onto the bed.

"Lily, it was only a dream," James said, looking at Lily worriedly.

She sighed, recognizing defeat. "I suppose you're right, James."

"Besides," James said, placing his hand under her chin and tilting her face up to look at him, "I can think of a few things we could do instead of interpreting nightmares."

"And what would those things be, James?" Lily asked softly, leaning close to him and putting her hand on his cheek.

"SNOWBALL FIGHT!" James screamed, jumping up and putting on heavy layers of clothing, as Lily watching him, looking slightly put-out. "Come on, Lily, you can't go outside wearing those pajamas! Go get ready!"

Lily laughed at his eagerness. "Okay," she said, heaving herself up out of bed and flinching as her foot touched the coldness of the floor. "Just wait a minute."

James gave her the thumbs up and watched her walk away, then turned to look out the window. What he saw startled him. A big barn owl was flying straight towards the window. He opened the window and untied the letter off of its leg, then shut the window again as a blast of frigid air blew through and sent shivers down his spine.

He flipped the letter over, and found that the envelope was sealed with sinister skull-and-crossbones. _I daresay you'll be reunited with your dear parents soon_, James read as he opened up the letter, which was written in red ink (at least, he hoped that it was ink). He crushed it in his hand with a crackling sound, then ran into the common room and threw it into the fire, pushing the thought of it out of his mind. He wasn't going to let a stupid threat-letter ruin his day. Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Lord Voldemort laughed.

_**A/N: Yes, I know James cheers up rather quickly after his parents die…but everybody reacts differently to that sort of thing, and having Lily near him cheers him up more than anything else could. So, yeah, just thought I'd clarify that. Um, don't forget to check out Silverwings' story, it's in the author's note in the chapter before this. Hers makes mine seem like a pile of doo-doo. Go check it out! Oh, and review, but don't send anything mean unless it's constructive criticism…thanks :)**_


	14. A NotSoMerry Christmas

**A Not-So-Merry Christmas**

"GOTCHA!" Lily screamed, dancing in the snow as her snowball hit James square in the chest.

"Oh, no you don't," James growled, hurling a snowball at her and missing by inches.

"Oh, yes I do," Lily screamed again, laughing hysterically. She was having the time of her life. _How could I have ever disliked him?_ Lily mused. _He's amazing!_

She was laughing so hard that she didn't see James running towards her, arms outstretched. "Oh, no you don't!" he said, tickling her. She was laughing so hard she was crying.

"James, stop it!" she screeched, and the next thing she knew she was being lifted off her feet. "JAMES, PUT ME DOWN!" Lily shrieked.

"That's what you get when you hit me with a snowball," James said, spinning her around. "But, if you insist…" He let go of her, and caught her again a few inches before she hit the ground, then put her down gently.

"You're going to pay for that one, Potter," she said, trying to sound mad. The effect was ruined, however, seeing as her words were separated by laughter.

"Oh, really?" James asked, before being hit in the face with a snowball. "EURGH!" he screamed, spitting snow out of his mouth.

"Miss Evans!" screamed Professor McGonagall, running in the middle of James and Lily's snowball fight. "Potter, if you throw one more snowball at me it will be detention," she said, wiping snow off of her face and frowning in disapproval.

"Professor, what is it?" Lily asked, picking herself up from the snow, where she was laughing at James's surprised expression when she threw the snowball at him.

"Miss Evans, your sister wrote you a letter. It's waiting in your dormitory."

Professor McGonagall ushered them into the castle, and they walked up to the Heads dormitory.

Lily read the letter, first frowning, then clapping a hand over her mouth. Her eyes were wide, and two seconds later she dropped the letter and sat on the couch by the fire.

"Lily, what happened?" James asked anxiously, sitting next to her.

"Petunia's getting married," Lily said monotonously, staring straight ahead as though she were a zombie. "She's marrying an oaf named Vernon. I never liked him. The wedding's in summer. My parents died. Her dress is going to be pale pink."

James reached out and hugged her, smoothing out her hair. She just sat stiffly and continued staring into the fire. She bit her lip. "Lily," James whispered into her hair. "It's okay. You can cry."

As if on cue, Lily started sobbing uncontrollably into his chest. James rubbed her back soothingly. When she calmed down, she pulled back and stared at the letter. "I'm an orphan!" she exclaimed, her voice cracking. James looked at her, sad that she was put in the same situation that he was in. Something squirmed inside him as he made a connection.

"Lily," he said urgently, "I don't mean to be insensitive, but how did they die?"

"A gas explosion in Muggle London. The police think that fire works set it off. There was a green flash and then there was a green shape in the sky that—" Lily stopped, her eyes wide, as James put a finger to her lips, then ran to his room and pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet that had been delivered. He pointed at the cover.

"It's an attack by Death Eaters, like the one that happened the first week of school!" James exclaimed, frowning. "This must've been what the purpleese were talking about when they said the shape in the sky!"

"James, it's _police_, not purpleese, and you must be right!" Lily exclaimed through her tears.

"But you just said I was wrong!" James said, confused.

"No, you were wrong about the way to say 'police', but you _must_ be right about the two explosions being connected! I'll bet anything that Voldemort was the cause of both of them! I wish there was some way to stop him."

"Lily, there is!" James's face glowed with excitement. "Remember I told you about the Order?"

Lily nodded her head, but smiled dismally at him. "James, Dumbledore wouldn't let us join. We're still in Hogwarts!"

"Yeah, I know that, Lily," James said quietly. "But we could join once we leave. And I'm going to be an Auror after school finishes. You could be one too. You're good enough to be one."

"I think I'm going to be a Healer. I could take care of everybody that needs it. I think that would be nice." Lily sighed and took a deep breath. "It's something my—It's something my parents would be proud of." She crawled into James's lap and wrapped her arms around him.

"It's something that I'm proud of," James whispered in her ear.

A sob escaped her lips. _How can I be reduced to tears by something _nice_ that James said? _She thought. She stood up. "I'm going to go to sleep," she said, kissing him. "Thank you…for everything."

She left James sitting on the couch, trying to work out what she meant, and went up to bed, where she looked out her window and up at the stars. Two new stars were shining up in the sky, twinkling at her brightly. She smiled, and crawled into bed, knowing that her parents were safe now.

_**A/N: yeah, I know I'm evil. Remember Lily's dream, that's kind of the proof that they're right about their theory that Voldemort led the attacks (the dream in Letters From Somewhere…that's supposed to be a dream, in case that wasn't clear). So, review please! I'll update again on Wednesday hopefully, I'm kinda busy that day. If not Wednesday, then Thursday. Review!**_


	15. Q and A

**Q and A**

James went down to breakfast the next morning holding Lily's hand in his. "Come on, Lily," James said, squeezing her hand as she paused in front of the Great Hall's doors. "You've got to eat something. For me?"

"James, it's not fair to do the 'puppy-dog face' on your girlfriend. That's cheating!" Lily said, pushing the doors open and chuckling slightly. James slipped his arm around her waist.

"Nothing's fair in love and war," James said, smirking.

"James, you got the quote wrong," Lily said, truly laughing for the first time since the morning before.

"No," James said, wagging a finger at her. "The person who said it got it wrong. My way's right!"

Lily sighed. "Whatever," she said, and grabbed a muffin off of the plate in front of her. She broke off a piece and shoved it into her mouth hungrily. "Mm…blueberry!" James gave her a questioning glance. "What?" she asked defensively. "I didn't eat dinner yesterday, remember? Anyway," she dropped her voice to a whisper and put her hand on his knee, tracing circles on it, "can we just bring up some food to our common room? I really can't face all these people just yet."

"Okay," James said. "Maybe we should take something for lunch, too…maybe a few muffins?"

"James, you're a 'big, bad Marauder'. You know where the kitchens are," Lily said.

"Right," James said with the air of one discovering a great fact. "Right, I know where the kitchens are. Lily, will you please stop doing that, you're distracting me!"

Lily immediately took her hand off James's knee as though burned; her face was burning a bright red that could almost rival her hair. "Well," she said, in a slightly squeaky voice because she was so embarrassed, "let's go, then?"

James laughed as he stood up; he couldn't believe he had that kind of affect on Lily.

"So," Lily said, sitting on the floor in their common room. "Want to play Questions?"

"What's Questions?" James asked, confused.

"It's a Muggle game. The people who are playing ask questions to each other, and they both have to answer. Truthfully, of course."

"Oh," James said, smiling and sitting across from her on the floor. "That sounds like fun. You ask me a question first."

"No. You ask me first."

"You know what? Let's play wands, parchment, or…or…oh bugger, I forgot the last one!"

"Kisses?" Lily suggested coyly, moving closer to him.

"No, that's not it—wait, I'll go with that!" James leaned over and kissed her, running one hand through her hair and placing the other one on the small of her back, pulling her closer to him, so that they were sitting next to each other.

"You know what, James?" Lily said when the kiss ended, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"What?" James replied.

"I think I might just love you a bit," Lily said, kissing his cheek.

"What, only a little bit?" James said, pouting.

"Okay, maybe more than a bit," Lily said. "Anyway, let's play Questions…I'll ask first." Lily bit her lip, trying to think of a question to ask James. "Who's your least favorite teacher in Hogwarts?"

"Slughorn," James said, adding a dramatic—and clearly fake—shudder. "Okay, so now I ask you something. What's your favorite thing about Hogwarts?"

"Well," Lily said, "I like the food. The food is definitely a plus. And I like the fact that I don't have to argue with Petunia like I would if I were at home right now. Most of the teachers are pretty good, and I like magic…but my absolute favorite thing about Hogwarts would have to be the people; people like me, my friends, and…" Lily paused and whispered the last word so that James could barely hear it, examining her fingernails with feigned interest. "…You. So, what's _your _favorite thing about Hogwarts?"

James laughed. "That's a given, Lily!" His face turned suddenly serious. "You, Lily, are my favorite thing about Hogwarts."

Lily blushed faintly, and mumbled something that sounded oddly like "extreme exaggeration" before looking up at James again. "It's your turn to ask a question," she said, with cheeks that were still rather pink.

"Okay," James said. "Right, so, when did you decide that you—" James paused and looked around the room awkwardly. "When did you decide that you—you know, fancy me?"

Lily's eyes were focused upon a spot right above his shoulder. "Well, um, maybe over the summer?"

"WHAT?" James said, as Lily's eyes snapped back onto his face. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his tone much softer than before.

"You wait until the next question to ask me that, James. I have to ask first!" Lily said, blushing. She didn't like the way the game was going, though James did. "Okay. What makes me so special next to every girl in Hogwarts? I mean, why choose _me_ when you could have half the female population?"

"What do you mean, half? I can have all of them if I wanted!" James suddenly looked horror-struck. "Not that I want them, Lily," he said quickly, while Lily laughed.

"Well the other half belongs to Sirius," Lily said, as though explaining that two plus two equals four. "Answer my question, please?"

"Right," James said, distracted. Lily had just put her hand on his knee and was once again drawing circles on it. "What was your question again?"

"Why did you choose me when any other girl would have said yes to you in a heartbeat?" Lily asked, moving closer to him and leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Oh," James said. "Well…that's kind of hard. Let's see, now. You're beautiful. You're smart. You're talented. You've never been like the other girls. Why did I choose you? Heck, I dunno, because you're you!"

"I'm me," Lily said. "Yes, for once you make sense. But honestly, James! Smart? Talented? Beautiful?" She scoffed. "Don't exaggerate."

"I'm not exaggerating, Lily," James said seriously. "I wish you could see you the way I see you."

"I changed my mind, James," Lily said suddenly.

"About what?" James asked nervously.

"Well, I think I might love you more than just a bit," Lily said, kissing James's cheek as he grinned like an idiot. He leaned over and captured her lips with a smile. Her arms snaked around his neck and her fingers tangled in the mess of hair towards the nape of his neck. Goosebumps tickled his arms.

"I take back what I just said," Lily said, and James looked aghast. "James, let me finish!" she said impatiently, laughing. "I _know_ I love you more than just a bit," she finished, kissing him again.

"Lil—Lily," James mumbled against her lips, trying his hardest to pull back (not that he really wanted to). "I have to ask you your question!"

"Right," Lily said, smoothing out her hair. "James, can't it wait for—"

James cut her off. "Lily, one more question and then we can do whatever you want." He smirked as his eyes flickered to her lips and then back to her eyes.

"Okay, fine," Lily said, huffing. "What's your question?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you fancied me? Why did you wait until now?" James asked softly, looking into her great green eyes.

"I was afraid," she said, looking away from him and twirling a strand of bright red hair around her finger. "I was afraid that you would lose interest. I thought that the only reason why you kept asking me out was to prove that you got me to say yes. I wasn't sure if you were telling the truth, or if you only wanted to use me and drop me."

"Lily," James said softly, turning her head to look at him. "Lily, Lily, Lily. I wouldn't do that to you. Since the moment I first saw you, I've waited for you. Waiting and waiting for six and a half years. I love you, Lily." He paused, then laughed. "You mistook me for Sirius."

Lily frowned. "So Sirius doesn't fancy Shayna, then? He's just flirting with her to show that he can, is he? I can't believe it," she all but yelled.

James's eyes widened in horror. "No, it's not like that at all, Lily!" James said exasperatedly. "I was just making a joke!"

Lily scoffed, her frown etched even deeper on her face as she stood, fists clenched.

"Please, Lily," James said as he stood up, pleading anxiously, almost desperately. "Please, hear me out. Sirius is my best mate, practically my brother! I've known him almost all of my life. He's done that to girls before, but Shayna is different. He really fancies her. More than anything. You should hear him talking about her!"

"Yeah?" Lily screamed hysterically. "What does he say? Does he say that she's got a nice bum? Is that what tells you that he fancies her?"

"Bloody hell, Lily!" James said. "Is that what you think of him?"

"Well, judging by his reputation, yes, it is what I think of him," Lily spat viciously.

"Lily, you've got it all wrong!" James said desperately, willing her to understand. "Sirius thinks of his reputation as a joke! He doesn't take it seriously, and neither should you. He's not like that—well, okay, I must admit that sometimes he is. But he's never done anything more than snog! He gets a bit crazy sometimes, but when he cares about something or someone he really means it. Shayna is more than just a girl to Sirius. Sirius knows everything about her, and she doesn't even pay attention to the fact that he would do anything to get her, if only she would stay with him. In fact, Sirius can't stop talking about her! It's maddening, actually! I've never seen him get like this because of a girl. That's—that's pretty much it," he finished lamely.

Lily flopped down on the couch and put her head in her hands. "I—I—I'm sorry, James," she said meekly. "It's just that in three short days my life has gone from being structured and predictable to chaotic. I guess I just needed to vent. I swear, if I knew how Sirius really felt, I would never have even said—"

James pressed a finger to her lips and put his other arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Lily," he said, taking his finger off her lips and pulling her into a tight embrace. "I've been thrown into the same situation that you have. Lily, we'll get through this together."

"Promise?" Lily asked, her eyes swimming with tears as she looked up at him. "Will you be saying that tomorrow?"

"I promise you forever," James said with a sigh, placing a finger on her nose.

"You say that like it's a bad thing!" Lily exclaimed, laughing even as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Well, it is," James said, wiping away her tears. "It's too short."

Lily smiled and buried her face in the soft cloth of the chest of his shirt, feeling James's muscles underneath it. It wasn't long until her breathing grew longer and deeper, and she fell asleep.

"I love you, Lily," James said, lifting her up easily and placing her in her bed. He kissed her forehead, not realizing that she had awoken when he had started to lift her up.

"I love you, too, James," Lily whispered as he walked towards the door. "I love you so, so much."

Lily's soft voice was with him, ringing in his ears throughout the whole night. He loved her. He loved her so, so much.

**A/N: Okay, I hope this chapter explained Lily's actions…this is the chapter I promised oh-so long ago when people started getting confused with the way Lily's acting. I promise, it's in there. Tomorrow everybody comes back from Christmas Break. Interesting chapter, I promise. Read that other story, Love Throughout Time by SilverwingsJP, I swear it's amazing. It makes my story hang its head in shame. Review, please!**


	16. Needs

**Needs**

Lily squealed and ran up to her two best friends, pulling them into a tight hug that left them both rubbing their ribs gingerly. They had just returned from Jocelyn's home back to Hogwarts. They had snow in their hair and their cheeks and noses were tinged pink from the cold outside. "I have so much to tell you," she said seriously.

Shayna held her by the shoulders and scrutinized her, then placed the back of her hand on her forehead. "Okay, imposter, what did you think you were doing when you Polyjuiced yourself into Lily?" she asked angrily, her deep blue eyes staring at Lily with a questioning glare.

"What are you talking about?" Lily said. "It's me, Lily Evans. My sister is Petunia, she has a boyfriend named Vernon, and in private company I call her Horse Butt. It's really me."

Shayna broke into a smile. "I'm sorry, Lily. It's just that there was a Polyjuice Potion scare at the Ministry. Somebody was acting strangely, and they thought that they were someone else using Polyjuice Potion. The man was cleared; it turns out he had a head cold and was feeling groggy because of the medicine he took…some Muggle thing called Apron or something? Anyway, it was front-page news in the Daily Prophet. Didn't you read it?"

"Yeah, it gave us all quite a scare," Jocelyn said, nodding her head fervently. "I mean, if the Death Eaters had gotten into the Ministry, that would have been chaotic! I'm sure you saw the news."

"Actually, I didn't," Lily said morbidly. "That's one of the things I wanted to talk to you guys about…but not here, obviously," she said, waving her hand airily and standing in the middle of the Great Hall. "It's much too crowded. Let's go into the Heads common room."

"But, James and Remus and Sirius are there!" Jocelyn said. "I mean, I obviously don't care about Remus being there"—Lily and Shayna exchanged smirks—"but Sirius and James are a problem for you guys."

"Not anymore," Lily said. "I'll fill you guys in on everything if you'll just come up to the Heads room with me."

Lily turned and walked up the long marble staircase, with Jocelyn and Shayna close behind. A few corridors later, they were standing outside the entrance of the Heads common room. Lily pushed the door open.

James, Sirius, and Remus were sitting on the floor of the common room with very serious expressions on their faces. They didn't seem to notice the girls walking in, and Lily motioned for them to stay still and quiet.

"…I wish I had you're luck, mate. I can't tell her the truth; there's no way she'll believe me!" Sirius was saying. "And even if she does, she wouldn't care anyway!"

"Mate," James said, "I've never seen you like this. You've never had a problem with a girl being uninterested in you before. Why don't you just tell her that?"

"How can I tell her that?" Sirius asked, punching the carpeted floor exasperatedly. "What, do I just go up to her and say, 'You know, Shayna, whenever I went out with those other girls I would pretend they were you. Everything about you amazes me. You're the only girl I've ever had trouble with, and, to be honest, I think I might have fallen madly in love with you!'"

Shayna gasped, then stepped out from behind Lily and walked quietly over to stand behind Sirius. James had a look of horror on his face, as did Remus. Sirius wasn't paying attention, as he had his head in his hands. "Yes, you do just go up to her and say that," Shayna said quietly, sitting down next to Sirius. Sirius looked up, flabbergasted, the color draining out of his face.

"Sh-Sh-Shayna?" he gasped, eyes wide. "Did you"—he paused and gulped, his hands clenching and unclenching again—"Did you hear…everything?"

"I heard enough," Shayna said quietly.

"Well, mate," James said to Sirius, "the gig is up. Looks like you've got to tell her the truth. _All_ of it."

Sirius took a deep breath and looked Shayna determinedly straight in the eye. "Shayna," he said softly, as if he was suddenly unaware that all of his friends were around him, "You know, every single girl I've ever gone out with is nothing compared to you. It's like taking a twig and holding it up to a tree. It takes me hours just to think of something I can talk to you about. Sometimes it takes me days. I think I might have had a list in my pocket at some point. Everything about you amazes me. Shayna, I—I—" he paused and looked unsurely at James, who gestured at him to go on. "I, um, I—"

"Oh come on, Padfoot, spit it out!" Remus said. "You can't stop now."

Sirius took a deep breath and once again looked Shayna in the eye; his eyes were filled with fear of being rejected, and…what was that other thing shining in his eye? "I love you," he said. Oh. It was love.

Shayna looked back at him, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Don't cry, please, don't cry," Sirius said anxiously. "You could…you could just forget I ever said that, if you want. I mean, I understand if you don't feel the same. If you don't, I'm actually not that surprised, because I really never expected you would and—"

He stopped, because Shayna was shaking her head, her blonde hair flying out in all directions. "Shayna," he said quietly, "please, don't cry…even though you do look rather pretty even when you cry."

She was laughing and crying at the same time. "Sirius, nobody has ever said anything nicer to me," she whispered, leaning in close to him. "Quite frankly, it was the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"It—it was?" Sirius asked, as though not daring to believe his ears. "You mean, you're not mad at me? Oh, thank Merlin, if you were mad at me I wouldn't know what to do, because, you know—"

"Just kiss her already!" James exclaimed.

"Right," Sirius said, looking suddenly eager and anxious at the same time. "Maybe we should save that for later," he said quietly, winking at Shayna, who had stopped crying.

"Let's not and say we did," Shayna said boldly, surprising everyone in the room. Shayna, the shy and quiet girl of the bunch, leaned into Sirius and placed her arms around his neck cautiously, as though afraid of being burned. He sat there for a second, amazed. Shayna's lips were on his. His hands were in her hair; he was amazed at how soft and silky smooth her hair was. There were catcalls and whistles circling around the room. Lily had a small smile playing on her lips. Jocelyn and Remus were imitating Sirius and Shayna on their choice of activities, and James shared a knowing glance with Lily, and then rolled up his sleeve and looked at his watch.

"Guys," he said tentatively after a moment. "Guys? GUYS!"

Sirius pulled back and smiled at Shayna. He was in some small form of heaven. Jocelyn and Remus had disappeared through the portrait hole a few moments before to do Merlin-knows-what somewhere else.

"You know, he really loosens up around her," Sirius commented, watching the two of them walking out of the portrait hole.

"We have to share out Christmas Break experiences," Lily said rather darkly, a slight scowl on her face.

"Right," Shayna said, pulling her now messy hair into a loose ponytail. "Well, we just sat at Jocelyn's house. What did you lot do?"

"Well," James started, "I'm sorry to break the happiness, but our Christmas wasn't exactly the happiest one." He turned to face Lily. "Should I tell them?"

Lily nodded. "I'm not sure I'm up to it," she sighed.

"Sirius, mate, you got my letter?" James asked.

"Yeah," Sirius said, looking sullen. "Listen, mate, I'm really sorry…if there were two better people that Mr. and Mrs. P, I'm sure I don't know them."

"It's okay, Padfoot," James said, smiling, though his voice sounded a bit watery. "There was something—or someone, rather—that made me feel better in ways I can't possibly describe."

Lily blushed as Sirius stared open-mouthed at the two of them. "You mean—no, you can't have done—do you mean that you did—" Lily reached over and clamped her hand over his mouth.

"Sirius, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, then don't think for a moment that I won't hesitate to think about cursing you so you won't be able to think about what you're thinking about," she said quickly.

"Huh?" James and Sirius said at the same time. Shayna laughed.

Lily sighed. "Let's just continue with Christmas Break. James was in his room. He handed me the letter about his parents. We—I mean—That is to say, I—" Lily fumbled with the words. _How do you just tell somebody about a kiss?_ she wondered, feeling her face grow red.

"Lemme guess: you snogged," Sirius said, watching smugly as James smiled triumphantly and Lily looked away, her face as red as her hair.

"Merlin's beard, Lily!" Shayna squealed, causing Lily to turn even redder (if that was physically possible). "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Surprise?" Lily squeaked meekly. "Anyway, the next day we had a snowball fight." Suddenly Lily's face turned pale as she realized what she had to say next. A lone tear rolled down her cheek, and James pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her protectively.

"Lily was put in the same predicament as me," James said simply to Sirius. "She doesn't like talking about it. You can explain to Shayna and Remus when he gets back." He tried to smile, but he only managed a slight grimace. He turned to Shayna. "Shayna, you can tell Jocelyn. Lily doesn't need your pity; that will only make her feel worse. Just…just show her that life goes on, okay? We're going upstairs."

Lily acted as though dazed; she stood up numbly and walked up the stairs to James's dormitory with his arm around her. "Can you read minds?" Lily asked him softly, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

"No," James said, chuckling slightly as he sat down next to her. "I just…well, I figured that that would be what you wanted. I know how hard it is to face your friends with that sort of news."

Lily put her arms in back of her to hold herself up better. "I wish we didn't have to," Lily said, voice strong though tears were streaming silently down her cheeks. "Nobody should have to tell their friends that. Not at our age. And not because they were murdered by the most vile and cruel human being—if we can call him that—in the universe."

James paused, lying on his bed next to Lily. "I love you," he said after a while.

"I love you more," Lily said, smiling.

"That's impossible, Lily," James whispered, playing with her hair. "I already love you too much."

"You're too cheesy," Lily whispered, her green eyes staring into his hazel eyes. "You're lucky I like cheese. It's delicious."

"You know what's more delicious?" James smirked as he put his arm around her waist.

"What?"

"Kissing you," he said huskily before doing just that.

Sirius slammed the door open. "Hey, Prongs, I just came to see if everything was okay and—GET A ROOM!" he shouted, as James and Lily broke apart, startled.

"Padfoot, you dolt, we're already in one," James said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, obviously everything's okay in here," Sirius said, smirking as he watched Lily blush for the fifth time that day. "I'll just leave you guys here." He turned to leave. "Oh, and Prongs, don't do anything I wouldn't do," he said, turning his head and winking.

"Prat," James said as soon as he left. "Yeah, he's my best friend. But he's a prat."

"Just forget about him," Lily said, taking his hand in hers and leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Lily," he said, looking into her eyes with a serious expression on his face, "I don't know what I would do without you."

A delicate smile played on her lips. _And he thinks_ he _needs_ me she thought to herself. She hated to admit it even to herself, but she knew in her heart that she needed James more than anything.

**A/N: okay, so that's that. It's a long'un, folks…okay, enough with that weirdness: I'm a bit stuck right now, so I'm limiting my updates to once a week. Review, and maybe I'll update faster ;-) Um…thanks to everybody who reviewed so far. You guys really kept me motivated, and I think that this is the longest story I've ever written so far. Anyways, I'll update in a week I think…Review, please!**


	17. Suspicious Behavior

**Suspicious Behavior**

"…so, it is necessary that when transfiguring a person into an animal, you keep your mind centered on that one animal and nothing else," Professor McGonagall was saying to her seventh year class. She noticed the unusual pairings of the students sitting next to each other in their seats. Shayna and Sirius were sitting next to each other, without so much as an aggravated whisper from either of them. Jocelyn and Remus were sitting next to each other, too, but McGonagall wasn't surprised at that. Peter was sitting with Belatrix Black, though Belatrix didn't look very happy about that arrangement. What surprised her most was the couple in the back of the room, holding a whispered conversation. She was so shocked at their sudden friendliness that she didn't think to tell them off for talking during class. She shook her head slightly to make sure she wasn't imagining anything. She wasn't. Lily Evans and James Potter were sitting and talking with each other? Impossible!

"So, you reckon Shayna really fancies Sirius?" James was asking Lily in a hushed voice. He couldn't help being suspicious; come on, it _was_ his best mate they were talking about!

"I don't know," Lily asked, trying to look as though she were just copying notes. "I'd say she does, but I've never really talked to her about this sort of thing."

James sighed. "I'm sorry if I seem a bit obsessive…it's just that it's my best mate we're talking about, and he never really loved anybody as much as he loves her," James said worriedly. "I don't want him to suffer if it turns out that she doesn't feel the same way about him."

"Well if she doesn't then I'm sure they'll still be friends," Lily said, biting her lip anxiously. "I mean, Shayna's not the type of person to just drop someone like a lump on a log. She's better than that. Besides, I'm sure Sirius would bounce back in a few days if that did happen."

"Yeah, you may think that," James said darkly. "But you don't know Sirius the way I do. He never gets this crazy over a girl. He was actually asking me if 'Shayna Black' has a ring to it. If she doesn't think of _him_ like that, then we have a problem."

"But wouldn't Sirius of all people understand if someone doesn't feel that way at the moment?" Lily asked.

"Miss Evans, I believe the question should be 'would the person you are trying to transfigure into an animal understand if you aren't concentrating hard enough on the transfiguration?'" Professor McGonagall said briskly from behind Lily, making her jump.

"Pro—Professor!" she gasped, suddenly realizing that the whole class was staring at her in shock.

"Miss Evans and Mr. Potter, you should be paying attention to what I am saying at the moment, not to…whatever it was that you were discussing," McGonagall said sternly, her small eyes fixed on Lily unblinkingly. "Now, as I was saying, the incantation must be recited exactly the right way, for if it is not then half of the person will transform and the other half will remain human, causing excruciating pain to whomever it is you are transfiguring. Also, the wand must be waved in the exact movement as described in your textbook, for if not the consequences will be quite painful indeed…"

James didn't pay attention to another word she said, though Lily was scribbling notes frantically in an effort to redeem herself in McGonagall's eyes. _So that means that Shayna might not fancy Sirius as much as we thought,_ James thought to himself nervously, drumming his fingers on the table and bobbing his knee up and down. _Which means that I have every right to be suspicious. Speaking of suspicious, where's Wormtail? I haven't seen him since…I don't remember. I haven't seen him in a while, and maybe something's up._

He frowned as he battled his conscience.

_He's one of your best mates!_

_Yeah, but he also hasn't been seen outside of classes in a while._

_But he's one of your best mates!_

_But maybe I should tell Dumbledore that he's been missing…_

_Peter wouldn't do something stupid like joining Voldemort!_

_Or would he?_

"OUCH!" he exclaimed. His knee, which was bobbing up and down nervously, slammed into the desk. He then stared up guiltily as Professor McGonagall's face loomed over him. "Sorry, Professor," he said meekly. "I hit my knee on the desk. It won't happen again, Professor."

James left the classroom ten minutes later with Sirius and Remus. Peter had darted ahead with Bellatrix and her boyfriend Rodolfus Lestrange. "Moony, Padfoot," James whispered, "I think something's up with Wormtail."

"No," Sirius said. "There can't be. He hasn't been going to the bathroom every period like he did the last time he was ill, when he took the Draught of Thirst potion that made him drink two gallons of water…" he laughed as he remembered that incident.

"I'm serious!" James exclaimed, frowning in aggravation.

"No, I'm Sirius. Mate, you might need a Mind-Focusing potion…I'll take you to the hospital wing if you can't remember where it is," Sirius said, shaking his head disapprovingly at James.

"Padfoot, I'm fine." James ran a finger through his messy hair in frustration. "I just think that something's up with Peter. He's been acting funny, and I think we should find out what's up." He paused and dropped his voice to a whisper again. "What if he's gone to Voldemort?" he asked darkly.

Suddenly Remus stopped walking abruptly. "I—I've just remembered, I've got to do some…Herbology homework that I forgot about."

"Okay," James said, eyebrows furrowed. He continued with what he was saying before, not turning to watch Remus leaving. "Padfoot, mate, what if Peter really _has _gone to Voldemort?" He peered at his friend worriedly.

"We don't have Herbology homework," Sirius said, as though in a daze, rubbing his forehead vigorously as though trying to iron off his skin.

"So what?" James asked, not catching Sirius's drift. "What if Peter went to follow Voldemort?"

"Prongs, don't be thick," Sirius said, still looking rather dazed as he walked along the corridors. "Peter may be a bit dull, but he's not _that_ stupid!"

"Yeah," James said, "I guess you're right. Padfoot, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sirius answered, though not sounding fine at all. "I've just got to go ask Professor Sprout something."

_Geez_, James thought, _why does everyone suddenly have to do something for Herbology?_

"Remus, where did you go before?" Sirius asked in the Gryffindor common room with Remus and James (who was told to leave _his _common room by Lily, who was having a girls-only thing with Jocelyn and Shayna).

"I told you, I went to get Potions homework," Remus said, fidgeting slightly.

"No, you didn't," Sirius said, narrowing his eyes. James was looking from one Marauder to the other, trying to figure out what was going on. Finally it hit him.

"You said you were going to get your Herbology homework!" James exclaimed, slapping his knee excitedly. "Ouch," he said softly, rubbing the spot he hit.

"Well," Remus said, realizing he was cornered. "I was…off with Jocelyn," he said, recognizing defeat and looking at the floor.

"Oh," James said easily, patting Remus on the shoulder. "Well, you could've told us that, mate. We wouldn't have cared!"

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Okay," he said skeptically.

James picked the skin on his thumb absentmindedly. _What's going on here?_ he thought, frowning.

**A/N: I decided to be nice and give you the chapter early. Just thought I'd clarify the purpose of this chapter…In the third book, Remus asks for Sirius's forgiveness for thinking that he was the spy. Sirius says that it's okay, because he thought that _Remus_ was the spy. After Silverwings (by the way, I hope you're reading her story…it's called Love Throughout Time by SilverwingsJP) read that part of the book, she asked me why Sirius thought that Remus was the spy. That got me thinking, so I wrote a chapter on it. So, _this chapter is dedicated to Silverwings_, because she got me thinking about it. Until next week :-) Send me reviews and I might update faster ;-) Please?**


	18. Ambush

**A/N: This story has a MAJOR cliff-hanger ending. If you don't like cliff-hangers…to bad, unless you want to wait a few weeks until the part's over. Here it is!:**

**Ambush**

While James was talking to Sirius and Remus, Lily was making her way up to her dormitory, where she was going to have a night off of patrolling with Jocelyn and Shayna. The corridors were dark; the candles did little to help in the darkness of the night. The wind floated through the thin cracks in the walls, and the corridors were very drafty. The night was clear, yet there were no stars twinkling at her from outside the windows. The night was still, almost foreboding.

She walked slowly, not really paying attention to anything. Her thoughts were turned towards her parents. _Would they like James?_ Lily wondered, as she shook her head as though ridding it of water. _Of course they would! What's not to like? He's sweet, funny, kind, thoughtful…and a great kisser. Hm…I wouldn't tell them that last part._

Lily didn't pause to wonder why Jocelyn and Shayna weren't with her. She was so absorbed in her thoughts; she didn't notice anything around her. Especially not the shadows lurking in the corners threateningly.

A slight rustle to her left roused her from her thoughts. It sounded like cloth. No, it sounded like someone wearing a Hogwarts school robe. "Who's there?" she asked quietly, looking around her cautiously. Nobody answered her. "It must've been me," she said to herself.

She started to walk again, but she didn't hear only her footsteps. "Who's there?" she asked, stopping sharply at the same instant as the footsteps she heard. Again, nobody answered her. "Maybe I should take out my wand," she whispered, reaching her hand into her pocket as she did so. She turned and walked into a dimly lit corridor. It was much darker than the corridor before; she had to stop so her eyes could adjust, and even that didn't help much.

She thought she heard whispering, but then again, it could have just been the wind. Her heart was beating so loudly, there wasn't much room for any other noise to be heard. Lily was sure that her heart would jump out of her mouth; she could feel it as though it were stuck in her throat.

_Okay, this is creeping me out,_ Lily thought, pulling out her wand and holding it in front of her as though she were brandishing a sword. She could've sworn she just heard someone whisper her name. "Is anybody there?" she squeaked anxiously, waving her wand in front of her recklessly and causing sparks to shoot out of it. _Hey, that shadow just snickered at me!_ she thought reproachfully. _Wait a second…shadows don't snicker._

The second she thought that, a voice from behind her said, "Now!" A strong arm wrapped around her waist, and the other one clamped a hand to her mouth. She couldn't have screamed, or ran, or fought back even if she had tried. She did the first thing she could think of, and stuck her tongue out to lick the person's hand. Rather than letting go, her captor just clamped her jaw shut. Lily bit her tongue and squirmed slightly.

"Now, now, Evans," an icy voice said in her ear as another someone with slender fingers slid a blindfold over her eyes, "If you don't fuss, it'll be much easier to get this over with. We've got orders."

The man's hand was still clamped tightly onto her mouth; she could barely breathe, let alone scream. He dragged her down the corridor. Lily tried to keep track of where they were going so that she could get back, but, being blinded by a piece of heavy cloth, she lost count.

Judging by the footsteps, four people had her hostage. A door creaked open. "Okay, quietly now," a female voice said from somewhere behind her. "We don't want to get caught. You have the Put-Outer?"

"Yeah," a cold voice said from behind her; it sounded awfully familiar.

"Okay then, let's move," the man holding her whispered. "Come on, fast!" He jabbed her sharply in the ribs with his free hand. "Move it," he said roughly.

"Why don't you get her a gag?" the cold, familiar voice replied silkily.

"Right," a fourth voice said; this one was slightly higher than the others, and reminded Lily forcefully of a small, scurrying rat. "Why don't you put a gag in her mouth."

"Right," the man holding her said, letting go of her waist to rummage for something in his pocket. "Hold her."

"She can't run anyway," a voice said, and she gasped. _Snape!_ Lily thought suddenly, as she remembered why that cold voice sounded so familiar. "She's blindfolded, you dolt."

She felt a hand lift off of her mouth. She opened her mouth to scream out anything, to anyone, but a piece of cloth was stuffed in her mouth. She was breathing heavily through her nose; the cloth wouldn't allow any room for air in her mouth.

Suddenly Lily felt as though she were being forced through a tube of toothpaste. As soon as the sensation had started, it had stopped. The air smelled different; the quality was much more poor than the clean, grassy smell of the Hogwarts grounds.

The four people marched her up a stone pathway that reminded her of a place she had been before. She counted her steps. 17. _Just like how long it takes to get to the door at home_, she thought to herself. They reached a door. "_Alohamora_," a woman's voice said to Lily's right. A click sounded from in front of her and they marched Lily through a doorway.

"Okay, mudblood," the woman spat maliciously, "we're going to take off your blindfold, and maybe you'll be able to tell us where you are."

She felt the blindfold slip off her eyes as she saw whom her captors were. Severus Snape. Bellatrix Black. Rodolfus Lestrange…

"Peter?" Lily asked, surprised to hear how frightened she sounded.

"That's right, Evans," Peter said, snorting a bit as he walked over to her. He ran a chubby finger down her jaw line, and his strangely pointed fingernail made a white mark on her skin. "You'd better not tell anyone of this, or _he'll_ have to deal with you." Lily was shivering with nerves. "I think we have an understanding. Now, look around," he said, his voice much colder and malicious than she had ever heard it before. It chilled her to the bone.

She turned her head, looking around her. She knew the house. She knew the wallpaper. She knew the carpets. She knew the furniture. She knew the pictures hanging lining the desk in the hall. "My home," she said, her voice cracking as she stepped closer to the desk, running her fingers along the edge of a silver, ornate picture frame.

"Foolish mudblood, this was your home," Bellatrix hissed.

"Bella, Bella, Bella," Snape said icily, shaking his head with each use of her name. "You must learn to control your temper. Anyway," he turned his head to look at Lily. "Go to your old room. No dilly dallying, now, there's no time to waste."

She walked deftly up the stairs, feeling the familiar creaking beneath her feet. With a feeling of dread swooping in her stomach, she put her hand on the knob of the door that once opened her room. She stepped inside it, her footsteps echoing on the cold, hard floor.

"Ah," a cold, high voice drawled from her bed. "I thought I would be seeing you here."

**A/N: Yeah, I did something to my foot (broke it or something?)…anyways, I probably won't update until I get rid of my damn crutches, because it's hard to get to the computer. But I might :) If you're lucky…lol jk. OMG GUYS THANKS FOR 100 GREAT REVIEWS!! Okay, keep reviewing, I'm so happy that I have 100! Review!**


	19. Dumbledore's Inside Information

**Dumbledore's Inside Information**

"Lily?" James called out, cupping his hands around his mouth in the hopes of making his voice louder. "Lily, are you here?" James looked around the Heads dormitories, trying to find Lily. There were no signs of anyone ever entering the room. The cushions were still in perfect order on the couch. The curtains were still draped. The beds were still made, and there were no wrinkles on the covers.

James turned on his heels and broke into a run towards the portrait hole. He climbed out of it clumsily, not pausing to stop and catch his breath. He ran all the way to the Gryffindor Common Room and up the boys' stairs; where he barged into his old dormitory room, panting.

"Prongs?" Remus looked at his friend in disbelief as he sat up in his bed. "Prongs, what happened?"

Sirius was snoring loudly in his bed; he showed no inclination of waking up any time soon. James pulled out his wand and thought, _levicorpus_! Sirius was suspended in midair by his ankle, swearing. "That woke him up," James said, rubbing his hands together.

"PRONGS, LET ME DOWN!" Sirius screamed.

"Sorry, mate," James said, flicking his wand. Sirius fell onto his bed with a _thump_. "I'm distracted."

"By the lovely Miss Evans?" Sirius said, smirking.

"Yes!" James said, his eyes widening. "She's missing! I can't find her!"

Sirius's eyes widened. "Bloody hell, Prongs! Did you go to Dumbledore?"

James smacked his forehead. "No," he said, rubbing his forehead, which was now red from his repeated smacking. "How could I have been so _thick_?"

"Prongs, calm down," Remus said, pulling on day clothes and trainers while trying to take hold of his wand at the same time.

"Hark who's talking," Sirius said, jumping out of bed and forgetting completely to put a shirt on. "Let's go to Dumbledore."

"Shouldn't we wait until tomorrow?" Remus asked skeptically, holding his wand out shakily.

"You dolt, Moony," James all but screamed. "By tomorrow she could be DEAD!"

"Where's Peter?" Remus asked, wheeling around the room looking for him. "And weren't Jocelyn and Shayna supposed to be with Lily?"

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER NOW!" James bellowed, stamping his foot. "WE NEED TO GET TO DUMBLEDORE AND TELL HIM WHAT HAPPENED!"

"Okay," Sirius said, "let's go, mate. Moony will look for Jocelyn, Shayna, and Peter."

"No," Remus said sternly, frowning. "I'm coming with you."

They walked out of Gryffindor Tower as quickly and purposefully as they could without making too much noise. James was so distracted and worried about Lily that he tripped numerous times over his own feet.

"Prongs, you look like you got hit with a Jelly-Legs Jinx," Sirius said, trying to joke around, though his face was pale. He had never seen his friend so worried over anything before. James shot Sirius a dirty look. "Okay, I'll just shut up now."

"You'd better," James hissed menacingly, pointing his wand at Sirius's face. "I know a few hexes that'll glue your tongue to the top of your mouth, if you don't."

"Oy, guys," Remus said, putting one hand on Sirius's shoulder and the other on James's to stop them, "We've got to stay calm. Fighting each other isn't going to help find Lily."

"Good point," James said, starting to walk again and turning a corner at the end of the corridor. He looked back at his friends. "Come on, walk faster," he said, while still walking. "We need to get to—"

He hit something tall and turned back to find himself face-to-face with Albus Dumbledore.

"Is there something that you boys need?" Dumbledore asked serenely, his blue eyes looking at them, scrutinizing.

"Yes, Professor," James said quickly, sounding slightly out-of-breath, "It's Lily. She's missing. We can't find her."

"Yes," Dumbledore said, sounding distracted and distant. "Yes, I had a feeling this would happen."

James, Sirius, and Remus exchanged glances. "You had a feeling what would happen, sir?" Remus asked tentatively.

"Lily is currently in the hands of Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore said calmly.

A sharp intake of air filled James lungs as his head began to spin. "And you're calm about this…_why_?" James said accusingly. "Voldemort is the most feared wizard of the century! She could be _dead_ by now!"

"No, no, she remains unharmed as of now, rest assured." Dumbledore's piercing gaze was focused intently on James.

"As of now?" James said, his voice rising and sounding panicky and urgent. "What do you mean, as of now?"

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said sternly. "Such matters cannot be discussed in a corridor such as this. We would do better to talk in my office. Come on, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin."

They followed Dumbledore to his office, wands raised and robes billowing behind them soundlessly. The only sounds were their footsteps and their heartbeats ringing in their ears. When they got into Dumbledore's office, he motioned to them to sit down.

"Now," he said, staring at the three Marauders over the tips of his interlaced fingers, "Lily has gone missing tonight. That much is obvious. But from this point on, not much is known about where she is, other than mere estimates."

James just stared at the Headmaster, eyes wide. "Professor," he began, but Dumbledore cut him off.

"James, please wait until I am finished. I had my suspicions that Lily would be kidnapped, but I did not know when. It has come to my attention that Voldemort was debating between two spots to bring Lily to. One of them was the graveyard in which her parents are buried. The other is her old home. From what I have deduced from those two spots, Voldemort wants a certain connection with her parents. It is my belief that he chose these places because he thinks they will hurt Lily more than any other place in the world, because they are places she associates with her parents. I shall inform the Ministry to search the two places that I have just told you. However, it is most likely that the Ministry will not believe what I am telling them. They think that Voldemort is mere hogwash, and that the best way to deal with him would be to ignore him. If that is the case, then I will call on members of the Order to aid in the search for Lily. If a fellow student asks about Lily's absence, say that she is visiting her sister. I daresay she has not said much about her sister, so the truth will not be unveiled."

James opened and closed his mouth several times, looking like a fish out of water. "How do you know all of this, sir?" he asked finally, after finding his voice.

"I am afraid I cannot tell you that, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, standing up. "Now, I suggest you all try and get some sleep. Oh, and James…what ever you do, do not go looking for Lily."

**A/N: Hi everybody! I hope what Dumbledore said kind of explains why Voldie took Lily to her house…and, I'm not sure if this was clear or not, but the Death Eaters didn't apparate on school grounds but outside the school gates…I'm sorry if I got you confused. Well, erm, that's it I think…thanks for reading, & make sure you check out Love Throughout Time by SilverwingsJP! I swear it's amazing. Oh wait, I just remembered: Silverwings&I are writing a series of one-shots called When Worlds Collide…it's kind of a humor thing about when the Marauders mess up their apparation and end up in different stories (the one we have now is Pirates of the Caribbean meets Marauders), so go read it, I swear that's pretty good too…at least I hope so. Um, thanks for reading!! Review & I'll update faster!**


	20. Voldemort's Desires

**Warning—cliffhanger at the end. Wait until next chapter if you can't stand cliffhangers (though I'd rather you didn't wait, because this IS a rather exciting chapter!)**

**Voldemort's Desires**

"What do you want from me?" Lily asked the figure sitting on her bed, her voice shaking and slightly higher than usual due to fear.

Voldemort laughed a high, cold laugh; his red eyes stared back at her, as cold as the evil smile pressed upon his face. "Certainly you _must_ know," he said, fingering his wand. "After all, my dear Miss Evans, you _are_ the brightest witch of your year."

"If you're going to kill me, please do it in the least painful way possible," Lily said, her voice sounding suddenly cool and undaunted. Her eyes were narrowed into cold emerald, and her knuckles were white as she reached slowly for her wand in her pocket. She tried very hard not to shake, though her knees were practically buckling with suppressed fear and rage.

Voldemort stood swiftly, his slit-like nostrils flaring. "You foolish girl, you will not speak to me that way."

"I'll speak to you however I choose," Lily said coolly. The only thing she could think of doing was to continue talking, no matter the consequences. She had a feeling that her voice was the only thing keeping her alive.

"May I remind you, Miss Evans, that is it on my terms whether you live or die tonight," Voldemort said, his voice an icy whisper issuing from his mouth. His long fingers were caressing his wand almost lovingly; Lily deduced that he loved it more than he ever loved any human being.

"So, what am I doing here?" Lily spat, her mind racing, her green eyes boring into his red ones, staring him down. "It can't have been only to kill me. You wouldn't have your pathetic servants kidnap and bring me here just so you can murder me. You would have ordered them to kill me in Hogwarts somewhere, so it wouldn't be any trouble to you. So, what is the real reason that you brought me here?"

"So you really are the brightest witch of your age," Voldemort whispered. "That I cannot deny."

"Stop your flattery," Lily said viciously, her face livid. She was shaking now not from fear but from anger. "It won't work. Is this how you got all of your servants? I don't see how, there's nothing that you can compliment them on."

Voldemort let out a roar of frustration and lunged at Lily, pinning her to the wall behind her by her forearms. "I will not be spoken to like that by a filthy mudblood!" he whispered fiercely, his face mere inches from hers. His putrid breath filled her nostrils with a stench so horrid that she had to fight to stop from making a face. "I, the most powerful wizard in the world, will not be insulted by scum like you!"

"You're wrong," Lily said strongly, though she was struggling instinctively under his vice-like grip on her upper arms. She felt his grip loosen a little, and knew that her words had gotten to him. "You're wrong," she said again. "You're wrong."

"You dare to contradict Lord Voldemort?" he hissed, his red eyes glowing in anger.

"Well, if somebody's wrong, I tell them," Lily said sharply. "And you are dreadfully wrong about being the most powerful wizard in the world. That position is already filled."

"And who might that wizard be?" Voldemort asked, his voice that of forced calm.

"Professor Dumbledore," Lily said simply.

Voldemort let out another howl of fury and slammed her against the wall. Little stars twinkled in front of Lily's eyes; Voldemort let go of her arms and she slumped to the floor, rubbing her head gingerly. "What do you want from me?" she asked, her voice shaking again.

"No longer so confident, now are we?" Voldemort said, chuckling. "Very well then, I'll tell you. If you must know, you are bait. James Potter will see that you are missing and will come and find you here. Then, you both will have to wait here for me to decide the most gruesome and painful way to kill you both. I was debating killing the Potter boy first and then watching you sob pitifully over his dead body…but now I'm not so sure."

"Why?" Lily asked, her voice cracking as tears threatened to spill. "Why do you want to kill us?"

"Well, my dear," Voldemort said in a mock chivalrous tone, "you are both so very powerful, and that would not be good for me, seeing as you are both very intent on joining the wrong side."

"The only wrong side here is your side," Lily spat, frowning up at him adamantly.

"And this is where we must agree to disagree," Voldemort said, bringing his long, spider-like hands together. "Though I don't agree much with agreeing. You see, if somebody doesn't see things my way"—he snapped his spindly fingers, and the sound echoed around the room eerily—"they're gone."

"Did it ever occur to you that you might be blatantly and ridiculously wrong?" Lily asked Voldemort viciously and courageously, her face florid with anger. "Utterly, totally, wrong, without a doubt in my—JAMES!"

The door slammed open, revealing James Potter standing with his wand at the ready, pointing it at Voldemort's chest.

Voldemort wasted no time, and mimicked James's position. "_Avada Kedavra_!" he said mercilessly.

_A/N: HAHAHA evil cliff-hanger. Um, I updated early in the hopes of you sending me reviews, because I only need around 25 more to get to 150! No pressure, but if you reviewed it would be amazing…anyway, I'm sorry that this chapter is rather short, but the ones to come will more than make up for it…besides, it's not length but content that makes a chapter interesting. Well, I hope you like it ) oh, and the Worlds Collide one-shot isn't up yet, but it will be soon, and when it is you should really check it out! REVIEW PLEASE :-) it would make my day :-)_


	21. It's Not Over Yet

**It's Not Over Yet**

James ducked as the curse went flying by him, and he felt his hair rustle with the force of it—as though being blown by a breeze. _Thank Merlin for Quidditch Skills!_ he thought as he straightened himself up. Voldemort swore and raised his wand to strike again, but just as he was about to send another curse towards James, a Death Eater ran into the room, pushing James roughly to the wooden floor. The Death Eater kneeled at Voldemort's feet and kissed the hem of his robes.

"My Lord!" he panted, still on his knees. "There are Ministry officials outside! They're surrounding the house!"

Voldemort's eyes narrowed into red slits as he frowned and strode quickly out of the room. "Watch them," he commanded his Death Eater. "Make sure they don't escape alive."

"Yes, Master," the Death Eater said to Voldemort's back, the only part of him that was still visible as his brisk strides carried him down the corridor leading to the stairwell.

"Stun him," James mouthed to Lily, inching slowly closer to where she sat slumped against the wall. "Use nonverbal spells," he hissed out of the corner of his mouth. "He won't suspect a thing."

Lily nodded; a red beam of light shot out of her wand and hit the Death Eater square in the chest. He keeled over, rigid as a stone and unmoving. James beamed at Lily, who was looking at James in amazement. "How did you get here?" she asked quietly, putting a hand on his arm. "How did you know I was here?"

"Dumbledore," James said simply. "That's how I knew you were here. He said that Voldemort wanted to associate you with your parents, probably to make you suffer. I can't tell you how I got here; that's a Marauder secret."

"James," Lily whispered, shaking slightly. "You saved my life."

"Don't speak too soon," James said grimly, looking at the door and listening for footsteps. "There's bound to be more of them." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder to the Death Eater that lay out cold on the floor. Sure enough, footsteps were pounding towards them, growing steadily louder.

"James, get up!" Lily whispered urgently. "We have to fight our way out." James stood up and held out his hand to pull Lily up. "I can get up fine myself, thanks," Lily huffed irritably.

"Lily, now's not the time to argue!" James whined, grabbing Lily's arm and pulling her up. "Just say the first spell that comes to mind."

The door creaked open. "_PETRIFICUS TOTALUS_!" James screamed, aiming his wand at the door.

"_Protego_." Dumbledore's voice echoed in the room as he said the Shielding Charm. James's hex bounced off of it as though it were rubber.

Lily's jaw dropped open in astonishment. "P-P-Professor Dumbledore?" she squeaked. When she rubbed her eyes and pinched herself to make sure that she was, in fact, not dreaming, she ran up to her Headmaster and hugged him, before stepping back and looking at the floor embarrassedly.

Dumbledore chuckled. "We must move quickly," he said, suddenly serious. "The Death Eaters are distracted by the Ministry's Aurors, but that will not last for long. We must apparate, and quickly. I trust that you both passed your tests?" Lily and James nodded deftly. "To Honeydukes in Hogsmeade," Dumbledore said, as footsteps echoed in the corridor outside. They turned on their heels at the same time, and disappeared with a pop, reappearing again outside Honeydukes, which was now closed.

"Sir, why didn't we apparate closer to the school?" Lily asked quietly.

"I do not wish to be seen or overheard, and even my office is sometimes not safe in troubled times such as these." He started to walk into an alleyway next to Honeydukes and beckoned them to follow him. It was dark and eerie, but Lily felt safe with Dumbledore next to her. Somehow, with Dumbledore there, things always seemed to go right. "Now," he whispered as James and Lily entered the alleyway, "James, you must first tell me how you got into the house when I specifically told you not to go looking for Lily."

"Sir," James started, looking guiltily at his own feet, "I know I shouldn't have gone after Lily, but I"—he drew a deep breath and continued—"I didn't want to stand the chance of losing anybody else."

Tears were now streaming down Lily's face as she realized how lucky she was to have escaped. "Please, Professor, if he hadn't come at the time he did, I wouldn't be here right now."

"I understand, Miss Evans," Dumbledore said calmly. "Will you please describe to me everything that happened tonight? Do you know who kidnapped you?"

"I can't say who kidnapped me," Lily said. This wasn't a lie, but wasn't a truth; the fact was, she didn't want to say because she was afraid of what would happen to her. "But I can tell you what happened. I was walking in the hallway, thinking about…other things, and so I was distracted. I turned the corner and heard footsteps behind me, but when I stopped, they stopped. I heard what sounded like a cloak, and also some whispers. Right when I took out my wand, a man grabbed me and blindfolded me. There were four of them—the Death Eaters, I mean. They took me to my house and asked me to look around, then sent me upstairs to talk to Voldemort. Then Voldemort said that I would be good for his side, and I told him that his side was the wrong side and that I would never join it. And…then James came," Lily ended, waving her hand at James lamely.

"Yes, well, I think it best if you watch out for each other," Dumbledore said, eyeing them seriously over his half-moon glasses. "I doubt that Voldemort has given up. It's not over yet."

_**A/N: Felt like being nice today and giving you something to read. Yay Dan now you won't be bored. (aha if you're not Dan, you can ignore that last part). Okay, so guys, I love you oh-so much. I have almost 150 reviews! If you review and get me to 150, I'll update over the weekend AND next Wednesday. So review. THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS I'VE BEEN GETTING SO FAR! x3**_


	22. Study Break

**Study Break**

Lily woke up the next morning in her dormitory, and found that she was clutching her blankets around herself tightly. The events of the night before came tumbling into her mind all at once, and tears streamed down her face. It was just too much for her to bear. She bit her lower lip in an attempt to stop herself from crying too much. She had classes that day, after all, and she didn't want to have to answer any awkward questions about why she was crying.

She took a shaky breath and sniffled her nose, then stood up and walked to the mirror in her bathroom. Her face was dirty; her hair was disheveled from having her head banged against the wall, not to mention tossing and turning in her fitful sleep. She turned on the sink on and splashed water on her face, looking at her red nose and puffy eyes in disgust.

"You've got to be stronger than that," Lily told her reflection, splashing the mirror with water. "Voldemort's after you. You can't show him that he's getting to you."

She washed her face, got dressed, and did her hair and makeup, then walked out of the dorm room and into the Great Hall, where she sat down next to James. She started talking animatedly to a girl in her Transfigurations class, who was sitting across from her.

"You're in the paper, mate," she heard Sirius say as he reached over to grab James's bacon off of his plate.

"I am?" James snatched the _Daily Prophet_ that was propped up against the jug of pumpkin juice in front of Sirius's empty plate. "Why don't you eat your own food, Padfoot?" James asked grumpily as he watched the last of his bacon disappear into Sirius's mouth.

"Awed id," Sirius said as bits of bacon sprayed everywhere the second that Lily turned away from her friends to talk to James.

"Sirius, you know that's disgusting," she said conversationally.

"Yeah, you should probably swallow before you talk," James said, looking disgusted.

Sirius swallowed with what looked like extreme effort. "Already did," he said, gesturing towards his empty plate. It was gleaming.

"What did you do, lick it?" James asked as Lily looked on with a small smile etched on her face.

Sirius gave his friend a reproachful look but did not answer. He turned instead to Lily. "You're in the paper," he said simply, snatching the paper back from James's hands and handing it to Lily. He poked the headline excitedly. "You made front-page news!"

"Read it out loud," James said.

" '_Last night at 12:00 Lily Evans, 7th year Gryffindor, was found missing from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Miss Evans was, according to Albus Dumbledore, found in her parents' home in downtown London, captured by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his followers, known as…blah blah blah…at precisely 3:00 A.M. of that same day, top Ministry Aurors surrounded the building in which Miss Evans was located. However, it was not the Ministry that saved her, but Albus Dumbledore and a fellow 7th year named James Potter. It is not certain how he managed to get into the building, but what is known is that Voldemort had tried to kill him—and failed. The curse that was meant to kill him was dodged, and it left Mr. Potter unharmed. (For more on this story, turn to page A2)._'" Lily read to the silence around them. Remus arrived in time to hear the newspaper being read, and stared at Lily and James sullenly. Sirius was eyeing him suspiciously. "So, we're famous. I wonder how the story leaked," Lily added as an afterthought.

"Lily, what did Voldemort do to you?" James asked, his eyebrows furrowed in worry. He immediately regretted asking the question as Lily's eyes turned glassy. He took her hand in his and helped her up. "Come on, we're taking a day off of classes."

Lily's eyes widened. "We can't do that!" she squeaked disapprovingly. "We'd get in trouble!"

"Lily," James said, calmly and rationally as he led her up to the staff table, "you just got kidnapped by Death Eaters last night. I'm sure the professors would let you have a day off. Oh, and make sure you mention that you need me with you, so that I could have a day off, too!"

Lily sighed, and pushed her hair tiredly out of her face. "If I must, I must," she said wearily, making her way up to Professor McGonagall.

"Yes, Ms. Evans?" Professor McGonagall said uncertainly, her eyebrows raised.

"Well, I was wondering if I could take the day off of classes," Lily said quietly, looking at McGonagall innocently, with her head cocked slightly to the left. "I mean, with the whole Voldemort thing, it's very stressful. I don't want to have to answer questions about it." She turned to look back at James, who was looking at her exasperatedly. Lily laughed inwardly. "James should come with me. He needs to…um…comfort me in this tragic time?"

Lily heard a snort of laughter from behind her as McGonagall turned to Dumbledore to debate the matter. "Oh, shut it," Lily said, smiling. "You know it worked." James tried—and failed—to stifle a chuckle.

"I told you!" Lily exclaimed, laughing, as she and James walked up to the Heads common room. "I told you it would work!"

James folded his arms across his chest and stopped walking. "HMPH!" he said angrily, stomping his foot.

"Hey, James, we have a day off," Lily said, walking to him and looking up at him. "Enjoy it." James's arms went back at his side—but only for a second. Lily felt herself being lifted off her feet as James picked her up.

"Shut it, Lily," he said, though she could hear the laughter in his voice as he carried her bridal-style into the common room.

He threw her down onto the couch, where she bounced slightly, laughing. He then sat down next to her, and she felt the cushions indent slightly to where he sat down. He turned to her, his face serious. She stopped giggling at once.

"James, what's wrong?" Lily asked, putting a slender hand on his shoulder. Her eyes bore into his; her eyebrows were raised gracefully as she stared at him questioningly.

"Let's go to the Three Broomsticks," he said suddenly, standing up abruptly. The cushions on the couch sprung up with the sudden loss of weight.

"James, are you okay?" Lily asked, standing up, too. "A minute ago you were laughing, and then you were zoning out, and now you're saying we should go to the Three Broomsticks?"

"Yeah," James said faintly, running a hand through his hair and rumpling it. "I've got a feeling about going to the Three Broomsticks."

"And I've got a feeling that you've gone completely mental!" Lily exclaimed, running after James, who was walking briskly out the portrait hole. "JAMES!" she screamed, sprinting after him down the hallway. "JAMES, LISTEN TO ME! STOP! JAMES, STOP!"

James's strides slowed down as he came to a stop in front of a statue of a one-eyed witch with a hump on her back. "_Dissendium_," he said, and the witch's hump opened. "Hurry up, Lily, before it closes," James said, climbing the statue and slipping down the tunnel of the witch's hump. Lily followed suit.

"Where does this lead?" Lily panted, out of breath from running halfway across the school to get to James.

"Hogsmeade," James said, turning a corner swiftly. Lily had to jog to keep up with him. After what seemed like forever, they found a staircase. "Come on," he said, gesturing to a huffing Lily that they would have to climb the stairs. Lily groaned in protest.

After a long climb that seemed to Lily to take hours, they emerged in the center of Honeydukes' cellar. "How did you find this place?" Lily whispered.

"A Marauder never reveals his secrets," James said, winking. "Now come on, we have to get to the Three Broomsticks!"

Lily sighed as she watched James run up the next flight of stairs that led to the shop. His enthusiasm made her smile, and she made her way quickly up the wooden stairs.

The shop was empty but for the old witch who was the shopkeeper, and was thankfully turned the other way. She did not notice Lily and James appear from the cellar.

"My dears, shouldn't you be up at school?" the witch asked, peering at them suspiciously from behind her thick, horn-rimmed glasses.

"We've got permission, because it's just reviewing in class and we already know all our stuff," James lied effortlessly.

The witch patted the graying bun sitting at the nape of her neck; it was almost as though she were checking to make sure it was still there. "Very well," she said in her reedy voice, though she still looked unconvinced. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No, thanks," Lily said politely, edging towards the door. "We're just going to head down to the Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer."

The old shopkeeper frowned slightly as she watched Lily tugging on the sleeve of James's robes to steer him out of the shop.

James pushed open the front doors and received a shocking blast of icy wind in his face. Lily laughed at the baffled look on his face, and the two left the shop arm in arm.

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

Behind them, the old woman stood alone in Honeydukes. But she was changing. Her hair was becoming lighter, more blonde; her wrinkles were contracting into her skin; her eyes were changing from deep brown to steely gray. Her paisley dress fell to the floor, revealing a sinister-looking black cloak, embroidered with a silvery serpent.

Lucius Malfoy, a man that looked to be a little older than Lily and James, stepped away from the old woman's dress, which now lay in a heap on the floor, and spoke to the empty room. "My Lord," he said, his voice echoing around the deserted room, "The disguise has worked. They are in the Three Broomsticks."

**A/N: okay, so, just to clarify something. Yes, Lucius Malfoy is talking to the empty room. Seems ridiculous, no? Well, Bellatrix did the same thing in the fifth book, and Voldemort heard her and came…so keep that in mind. Yes, I know, I'm being pretty mean to James and Lily. It's not ending soon. But I will be nicer eventually…say 4/5 chapters from now? Yeah, I think that's it. Um, anyway, I HAVE 150 REVIEWS! I love you guys so much. Yay. Okay, so you want me to love you? REVIEW! 3**


	23. Three Broomsticks and a Wand

**Three Broomsticks and a Wand**

"James, you should have told me to bring a cloak!" Lily shouted above the roaring wind as she walked down the empty streets of Hogsmeade. She clutched her thin school robes tightly around her.

"I didn't think about it," James said sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders as his teeth chattered loudly from the bitter wind and cold.

"Dolt," Lily said, speeding up her step as she saw the Three Broomsticks loom into sight. "Finally!" she exclaimed moments later, standing outside the doors of the tavern. The warm lights winked and twinkled at them invitingly from within.

"What are you waiting for?" James said impatiently, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to keep them warm. "Let's go in!" He pulled open the wooden doors and walked inside, with Lily following close behind him.

"Two butterbeers, please," Lily said to Madame Rosmerta at the bar counter, as James put down two gold Galleons. "And don't give this one any firewhiskey," she added as an afterthought, jabbing her thumb at James and laughing. She picked up the butterbeers and walked away to find a place to sit.

James gave Rosmerta a wink. "Special permission from the Headmaster," he said slyly, placing another Galleon on the table when he was sure that Lily wasn't watching.

"Of course," Rosmerta said, trying not to laugh. "I see you finally got to Lily…I read about what happened in the _Daily Prophet_. I must say, you're probably the only ones who've escaped from Voldemort without so much as a scratch!"

"Rosmerta, I'd rather not talk about it," James said curtly. "I'm here because Lily needs to have a normal day for once, outside of Hogwarts. Oh, and thanks for the drinks." He smiled at her and walked over to where Lily sat, waiting.

"She asked why we're here?" Lily asked, her eyebrows raised.

"No, she asked me why you're with me. Last time she saw me, you hated me, remember?"

Lily giggled and took a sip of butterbeer. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"No," James said, looking at her and smiling gently, "don't be sorry. If you would've said yes before, we probably wouldn't be here…together…right now."

"Yeah, I never thought about that. I mean, everything in this world is…it's almost like…like…like everything is on a string, and if one thing happens it makes something else happen and—" her words were drowned out by a deafening crash. Shards of broken glass from the window behind them sprayed everywhere.

"Get down!" James yelled, pulling Lily under the table with him.

"Come out from under the table, Potter, and bring your mudblood girlfriend with you," a cold voice said from above them. "It's her that we want."

James leapt up from under the table; an anger such as he had never felt before seared up from inside him. "Lucius," he spat. His fist rose, and before Lucius could do anything, it sprang forward and collided with his nose. James ducked back under the table and grabbed his forgotten wand.

"What did you do?" Lily whispered anxiously, holding onto his arm so tightly that her nails were digging into his skin.

"Punched him…Listen, Lily, go to Dumbledore," he whispered urgently. "Tell him to come. Tell him there isn't any time to explain. Take him here. I'll try and hold Malfoy off. Just go, now! I'll distract him."

Lily bit her lip. "I love you, James," she said fearfully, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I love you too," James said, pushing his lips against hers, worrying that it might be the last time he might ever do so. "Don't worry, I'll be okay. Just go get Dumbledore." He jumped back up, and threw a well-placed spell at Malfoy, who was clutching his nose in pain.

Lily ran as fast as she could up to Hogwarts, not pausing for breath. She ran through the many corridors leading to Dumbledore's office. However, she didn't have to run all the way.

"Professor!" Lily gasped on the staircase of the fifth floor corridor. "Professor, it's James, there's Death Eaters, come!"

Dumbledore ran down the staircase so quickly that Lily gaped at him for a moment before running after him. "Show me the way," he said urgently.

Lily ran in front of him and led him all the way to the Three Broomsticks. There were shrieks and banging and shattering noises coming forth from the tavern, and rain was now falling gently from the sky. Lily pushed open the doors roughly and ran inside.

James and Lucius were standing in the middle of the tavern, each on tables. They held their wands in front of them like swords, surveying one another to find a weak point. "JAMES!" Lily screamed, but it was too late. Lucius had swiped his wand in a brutal motion, hitting James with what looked like purple flame. James collapsed, falling from the table to the floor with a crash. Everything was silent.

Dumbledore rushed forward, but Lucius was already gone with a whip-like crack. "We must get him up to the hospital wing, and quickly," Dumbledore said, conjuring a stretcher and levitating it. He walked out of the tavern and grabbed onto James's wrist. "There's still a pulse," he said to Lily. "However, it's very faint." With that, he took a hold of James's forearm, and used Side-Along Apparation to bring him to the school's iron gates. He opened the gates easily and rushed in, Lily running and sniffling behind him. After what seemed like an eternity, they reached the infirmary.

"He will live," Madame Pomfrey said calmly, while tipping his head back to give him a potion. "He will, but he'll have to stay in the hospital wing for at least two days, and he will be unconscious."

Lily sighed a breath of relief and hugged Professor Dumbledore. Once she came back to her senses, she jumped back as though burned. "Sorry, Professor," she mumbled, her cheeks bright red.

"I've forgotten all about it," Dumbledore said, smiling, and he walked out of the hospital wing.

Lily turned and looked wistfully at James, who was lying in the hospital bed with bandages around his torso. "Oh, James," she whispered morosely, looking at his pale face sadly. "This is all my fault."

**A/N: yes, I know, I'm pretty depressing. However, this is very important to the plot. Plus, the next chapters are pretty much sadder. But then they get happy again for a while! Oh, by the way, since you're almost done reading this you can check out the one-shot I wrote with Silverwings, it's called When Worlds Collide: Marauders&POTC. It's just some random silliness, but we think it's pretty good. Review this one and the other one!**


	24. Slipping Away

**Slipping Away**

James woke up four days later to find a gaunt and harried-looking Lily sitting at his bedside. "Lily?" he whispered, his voice hoarse from days of it not being used.

"James! Merlin's elbow, James, you're up!" Lily exclaimed, jumping up and getting down on her knees so she could look him in the eye.

"How long have I been out for?" James asked Lily, rubbing his eyes and running a hand across the bandages around his torso. He winced. "What am I doing here?"

"James, don't you remember the Three Broomsticks?" Lily said, her voice cracking. "Don't you remember any of it?"

"Yes, I remember parts of it. But why am I in the hospital wing? Why do I have bandages around me?" James's hoarse voice had a note of panic in it.

Lily's lower lip quivered. "Malfoy did this thing…I'm not quite sure what it was, it was dark magic, I'm sure. He did this slashing motion, and purple stuff shot out of his wand and hit you, and then you collapsed. Dumbledore saved you." Lily let out a sob as a lone tear slid down her cheek. "Oh, James, if we would have been two seconds later then you'd be dead!"

"Lily," James said, wiping away her tear with him thumb, "it's okay. I'm here. You don't need to worry about what could have been. I'm going to be fine, I promise you. Lily, why are you so thin?"

"I stayed here with you. I couldn't eat, I was too worried!" Lily pulled her hair to one side and twisted it around her fingers.

"How long was I out for?" James asked.

"Four days," Lily said, her voice shaking. "The Professors say you won't have to make up any work."

"That's one less thing I have to worry about," James said with a weak chuckle. "I guess I've got to make up that Hogsmeade trip to you. I'll take you as soon as these bandages come off."

"No, you won't," Lily said, looking away from him to stare out the window uncomfortably.

"But Lily, why not?"

"James, it's my fault you're like this, lying alone in a hospital bed!"

James looked at the back of Lily's head in horror. "Lily, don't say that, it's not your—"

"James, don't interrupt me," Lily said sternly, looking back at him. Her eyes were filling with tears. "I love you," she said softly.

"Lily, I love you, too," James said, looking confused. "What's going on, Lily? Don't cry…Please, don't cry. There's nothing wrong now. Everything's going to be okay."

"No, it's not," Lily said firmly. "It can't be okay. It can't."

"Why not?" James asked, taking her hand.

Lily pulled her hand away quickly. "I can't be with you, James." She tried to remain calm; she tried to show no emotions, but her voice revealed the pain she was inflicting upon herself.

"What?" James asked, sitting up abruptly and wincing. "What are you doing, Lily?"

"It's my fault you're like this. I can't be with you. The Death Eaters want me, not you. They're only hurting you because you're so intent on protecting me. Please, James, don't make this harder than it already is." Lily stood up and started pacing around the room. It was dark; the sky outside was a stormy gray and thunder rolled in from the distant mountains.

"Lily, this is ridiculous!" James exclaimed; his voice was no longer hoarse.

"James, please, listen," Lily began, but James cut her off.

"I've already heard enough!" he yelled. "You're not only hurting me, Lily, but you're hurting yourself! And for what good? I don't care that the Death Eaters are after you, Lily! I would gladly give my life away just so that you could have yours! And even if you do break up with me, even if the Death Eaters stop chasing me because of it, you will still have lost me anyway because of it!"

"James, I'm sorry." Lily turned to leave. "It has to be done."

"LILY! LILY, WAIT!" James shouted after her.

Lily turned around and looked at him, with tears in her eyes. "James, please, this already hurts enough. I have to go." She didn't move, though, but stood where she was, stock-still.

"Why?" James said, looking at Lily with an unreadable expression on his face. "Lily, I don't understand. Why are you doing this to me? To yourself?"

"James, the Death Eaters are after me," Lily said. "I don't want you to get hurt because of it."

"I don't—do you really think I—why would—IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT!" James couldn't think straight; he couldn't fit two words together to form a sentence. He was breathing hard. His hands gripped the sides of his blankets tightly, and all he wanted to do was shake Lily and knock some sense into her.

"James, I—I'm sorry," Lily said, her voice so quiet that he could barely hear it.

"SORRY? THAT'S ALL YOU CAN SAY, 'I'M SORRY'?" James shouted, but it was no use. She had already turned and walked away, her footsteps echoing throughout the empty hospital wing. "Bloody bandages," he hissed, and flopped back down on his bed. She was perfect; she was everything he wanted, and he let her slip away.

**A/N: Hello. Um, yes, this chapter is utterly depressing. Sorry if I made you upset. This isn't the end of them, believe me. It…it just fits in with the plot, as does everything I write. Trust me on this one, guys! So, um, thanks to people who reviewed this story and also the Worlds Collide one. That one's more light-hearted and random. Next one is Phantom of the Opera (it's gonna be posted on SilverwingsJP). Oh, and by the by, go read this story, too: Love Will Be Our Destiny by StacyFergieBEP. It's by my Fergie-crazed friend Michelle. Read that, its decent…and so is that other one that I mentioned in all the other author's notes. Well, um, REVIEW!!**


	25. Apart

**Apart**

Days passed. It was midnight, and Lily was up reading by the light of the Heads common room fire. She sighed in frustration and threw the book down; it missed the fire by a hair. "It's no use!" she exclaimed to the empty room, her fists clenched.

She walked over to the fire and picked up the book, before stomping angrily back to the couch by the fire. She didn't continue reading, but instead stared blankly at the fire. It seemed to mock her. The yellow and orange flames licked happily at the wood and the grate, and made snapping and cracking noises every so often. The stars outside the window twinkled merrily, and the chilling February wind whipped the branches of the Forbidden Forest carelessly. The waters of the lake rippled in the breeze, and the reflection of the castle's many lit windows was distorted, as though seen through a stained-glass window. "Oh, bother it all!" she said to herself. "I know it's for my own good, but why does it have to be so hard? I only loved him, is all!" Suddenly she realized how stupid she must seem, talking to an empty room and a lively fire. Just then footsteps came from just outside the portrait hole. Lily quickly resumed staring at her book, though she didn't take in a word.

James walked into the room, his shoulders hunched. "Evans," he said curtly, as a way of greeting.

"James," Lily said, not looking up from her book.

"What're you reading?" James asked, looking at her book, which was upside-down.

"A book," Lily said coolly, standing up. "Good night." She stomped angrily up the staircase leading to her dormitory, and slammed the door.

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

"Lily, I may not be good with this sort of thing," Jocelyn said weeks later in the corner of the potions room, "but I really think you made a mistake here."

Lily's potion simmered purple instead of the rich royal blue it was supposed to be, but she wasn't paying attention to that right now. Her hair was frizzed from the steam rising from her caldron, and her eyebrows were bunched down in a frown. She pushed her hair back from her forehead and pulled it into a ponytail. She sighed. Her focus was not, as it should have been, on the potion, but on a wizard sitting three rows ahead of her. A wizard with glasses, muscles, and untamable black hair. "Yeah, I shouldn't have dumped him," Lily said untenably to Jocelyn and Shayna.

Jocelyn snapped her fingers in front of Lily's face. "I was talking about your potion, you dolt!" she said in frustration. "It's catching fire!"

Lily screamed and jumped up; the top of her potion was indeed on fire. "GET IT OUT!" she shouted, standing on her chair.

James jumped up from his seat and pointed his wand at Lily's caldron. "_Aguamenti_," he said, and a jet of water shot out from his wand and into Lily's caldron.

The potion hissed and bubbled menacingly, and the fire sizzled out. Lily peered at it with raised eyebrows. It was now the exact shade of blue described in her potions book. "Thanks," Lily said meekly, turning bright red.

"Maybe you should get off of the chair," James said, holding out a hand. "Here, let me help you."

"I can do it fine by myself, thanks," Lily said coldly, sitting down in her chair and adding the last ingredients.

"I wonder what Professor Slughorn was doing all this time," Jocelyn mused.

"He was sleeping at his desk," Shayna said from behind them. "Still is, in fact."

"Shayna, you've been awfully quiet," Lily said, looking at her friend with one eyebrow raised. "Were you even here?"

"Yeah," Shayna said, though she didn't quite meet her friends' eyes. "Listen, Lily, I need to talk to you."

"We can talk later," Lily said impatiently as the bell rang. "We've got to get to class."

"But Lily," Shayna protested, "it's important! It's about the…never mind." Lily had already run out of the classroom, so that she wouldn't be left alone with James. Shayna sighed and scratched her arm absentmindedly before following Lily out of the classroom.

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

"What did you want to talk about?" Lily asked as she looked up at Shayna, who was reapplying her makeup.

"Never mind," Shayna said, standing up from her seat by Lily's mirror. She, Lily, and Jocelyn were in Lily's dormitory. Jocelyn and Lily were wearing pajamas, but Shayna was getting ready to meet with Sirius, who wanted to take her somewhere, presumably the Astronomy Tower. "Well, I've got to go meet Sirius. I told him I'd meet him at 8:00, and it's already 8:15!"

Lily and Jocelyn waved her off enthusiastically as she ran out of the portrait hole. "Have fun!" they called after her.

Jocelyn turned to face Lily. "Lily, you should get back together with James," she said nervously, playing with the hem of her shirt.

"Why should I?" Lily asked fiercely.

"Because you love him!" Jocelyn exclaimed, standing up from Lily's four-poster bed she was sitting on.

Lily sighed. "Yeah, I know," she said, and her tone held no contempt, only sorrow.

"And I'll bet he loves you, too," Jocelyn said softly, sitting back down and pulling Lily (who was standing up) down with her. The bed creaked with the sudden weight.

"I think he does," Lily said sadly. Her voice sounded so meek and lonely that the very air around her seemed to shimmer with sadness. "It's just…I don't want the Death Eaters to get him because of me. Merlin knows, I can't deal with anything else happening!"

"Lily, for the smartest one in our year, you're really dumb," Jocelyn said, laughing. "What makes you think that they're only after him because of you?"

"Please, Jocelyn, I just want to be alone right now," Lily said quietly. She stood up and crawled back into her bed, pulling her quilt up to her chin.

Jocelyn pulled herself up off the bed and walked to the door. She pulled it open and didn't bother to close it, before walking down the stairs and through the portrait hole. James took his chance. Hidden under his Invisibility cloak, he had heard every word that was said. He snuck into Lily's room and stood by her bed for a good portion of the night. When he was sure she was asleep, he kissed her forehead and pushed a stray hair away from her eyes. "I love you, Lily," he whispered, walking towards the door. "Always have, always will." He turned and shut the door with a snap, as Lily pulled her quilt in her sleep.

A/N: Very sappy ending, I know. But I thought it was cute. SO, as you see, all is not lost for them. It's kind of short. Sorry about that. Hope you're enjoying the When Worlds Collide story, as well as the Love Will Be Our Destiny and Love Throughout Time stories. Well, um, also, I started a new fanfiction about Peter's story…it's not up yet, but it will be eventually. I'll tell you when. REVIEW! Thanks :-)


	26. Furry Little Problem' Problems

**A/N:This Chapter Is Really Really Really Really Sad&I Hated Myself For Writing It!**

**Furry Little Problem…Problems**

"When's the full moon again?" Sirius asked Remus in the corridor after Potions class one afternoon. The Marauders (minus Peter, who was supposedly staying after class for some extra help) were walking through the hall and talking in whispers.

"This weekend," Remus said, looking around anxiously to make sure no one was listening. "Somebody has to tell Peter. I'm not sure he remembers."

"Of course he remembers, why wouldn't he?" James said, patting Remus on the back.

They turned a corner and Remus looked around again cautiously. "Well, he was never one to be on top of things, was he?"

"You've got a point there, Moony," James said, wagging an index finger for emphasis and smiling. Suddenly his face fell. "You know, Peter's been hanging away from us for so long, I've almost forgotten what it's like to have him around!"

"I know what you mean," Sirius said, scratching the tip of his nose in thought.

Remus suddenly grabbed a hold of both of their shoulders. "Transfiguration, remember?" he said, sighing and turning them around to face him.

"What does that have to do with Peter?" James asked, scratching his head in perplexity.

"Nothing," Remus said, trying very hard to stifle a laugh and only accomplishing the look of one with a severe stomachache. "You passed the class, though."

"Yeah, I know I passed Transfiguration," James said, still utterly baffled.

Remus sighed at his friend's moment of stupidity. "Prongs, we _walked _past the Transfiguration_ room_, mate!"

James and Sirius exchanged horrified glances and bolted forward, retracing their steps.

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

Later that night, Sirius, Remus, and Jocelyn were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, watching the last of the fiery embers die down inside the fireplace. Jocelyn kept shooting Remus worried and clandestine glances; he looked oddly pale and sick.

"How's your grandmother doing, Remus?" Jocelyn asked quietly, moving closer to him on the couch they were sitting on.

Sirius's eyes widened. "You didn't tell her yet?" he hissed in disbelief from his side of the couch.

"Didn't tell me what?" Jocelyn snapped, looking at Sirius with her eyes narrowed. The last of the embers died out with a sputter, leaving the room in semi-complete darkness. The gibbous moon's glow, peeking in through the window ominously and surrounded by a starless sky, was the only light in the room.

"Woops," Sirius said quietly, looking down at his sock-clad feet. "It wasn't supposed to be that loud."

Remus swallowed audibly. He got up and walked towards the window through which the moon was shining and stared down hard at the grounds so many miles below. The sky was dark, and only a few lonely stars twinkled across it. The moon's reflection shimmered distortedly on the lake's rippling surface. It was so quiet that an owl could be heard, flying off on its nighttime hunt.

"Remus, what didn't you tell me?" Jocelyn said again quietly, getting up from the couch she was sitting on and walking over to where Remus stood.

Sirius tried to stand up discretely, but tripped and somehow managed to land himself on the floor with a loud thump. He got up slowly and awkwardly, brushing off his clothing. "I'll…I'll just be going now," Sirius said cautiously, starting up the stairs. "Don't want to intrude, you know." Remus and Jocelyn weren't paying attention, and he took his chances and walked halfway up the stairs, sitting on the middle stair so he could still see and hear what was going on.

"Remus, answer me, please," Jocelyn said quietly, putting a delicate hand on his shoulder.

Finally, with what looked like an enormous amount of effort, Remus turned and faced her. He couldn't stand to look at her—he didn't want to see her face when he told her what he knew he must—so he settled upon looking at a place above her left shoulder, where he could still see the moon mocking him through the window. He sighed. It was just too hard. "I—I can't," Remus whispered, looking down at his feet.

"Remus," Jocelyn said, her voice shaking. Her eyes welled up with tears and her lower lip quivered. "Remus, you're scaring me!" Two tears trailed down her cheeks, and Remus finally looked up and made to wipe them away with his hand. "Don't touch me!" she screamed, smacking his hand away. Her lip quivered as more tears streamed relentlessly down her cheeks. "Don't you dare touch me, Remus Lupin, until you tell me what's going on here." Her voice was a vehement whisper, and she was shaking.

"Jocelyn, I—I," Remus paused and took a long breath. "I should have told you a long time ago." He tried to wrap his arms around her comfortingly, but she pushed him away roughly.

"Tell me what's going on," she said, her voice menacing and slowly rising in volume.

Remus looked into her angry eyes and felt his heart breaking, slowly and painfully. "I should have told you a long time ago," he began, his amber eyes meeting her chocolate ones briefly before he turned and started pacing around the empty common room, "but I was afraid. I was afraid you wouldn't understand, or you wouldn't accept me. I didn't want to risk it…Risk losing you before I even had you. Jocelyn, believe me when I say that I never loved anybody before you, nor will I love anyone after." He sighed and stopped pacing, facing her and rubbing his hands over his forehead. She stood still in stony silence, tears streaming freely down her cheeks as she watched Remus. "I—I guess I should tell you how this whole thing started…please, don't judge me for what I'm about to say."

He took a shaky breath and looked away from her, back out the window towards the moon. "When I was very young, I lived in a house by the woods. When I was four years old, my father did something that upset Fenrir Greyback. He threatened my father. My father warned me not to stray to far away from the house, but I was foolish. I didn't listen to him. One night, I walked into the woods, alone, after all the other kids had gone inside." Remus paused and gulped, and Jocelyn noticed that his hands were shaking slightly as they gripped the sill of the window he was looking out of. "I was—that is to say—ever since that night, I've been different. Jocelyn, I—I—I'm a—a werewolf."

Jocelyn gasped and walked slowly over to the nearest chair, before sitting in it weakly. "I—um—wow."

Remus turned around and looked her in square in the eye. "But this is who I am," he said shakily, his voice cracking slightly. "I'm the same person. I'm still Remus!"

"Remus," Jocelyn started, standing up again and walking over to where he stood. "Remus, I know who you are. But you lied to me!"

"If you knew, would you honestly want to _date _a _werewolf_?" Remus all but screamed at her, his hands balled up into angry fists. "Would you want to date a _horrible, ugly beast_?"

"Remus, I don't care about that!" she said, tears once again streaming down her cheeks. "What I care about is that you were feeding me lies ever since the very beginning!"

"If I didn't, then we would be _nowhere_ and you would be with somebody else!" Remus shouted, desperate to show her things from his point of view.

"If you didn't lie to me all this time, then right now you would have somebody who"—Jocelyn was mere inches from Remus, and she was pounding her fist against his chest in rage; her face was florid from anger—"who STILL LOVED YOU!"

Remus opened his mouth in horror. "Jocelyn," he said weakly, grabbing again onto the windowsill for support, "Jocelyn, I only—I only wanted to…"

Jocelyn interrupted him. "You only wanted to what? To deceive me? To leave me in the dark? TO _COMPLETELY BETRAY MY TRUST_?"

"No, Jocelyn, look, you've got it all wrong," Remus said, taking her hands in his.

She yanked her hands away from his and pointed her finger at him threateningly. "Don't you dare," she said in a deathly quiet whisper, "Don't you DARE touch me, Remus Lupin!"

"Jocelyn, please, I"—Remus began desperately, but it was no use.

"I'm done with this," Jocelyn said angrily, "We're through!" And without another word she turned and stomped up the stairs to her dormitory.

Remus sat in the armchair that she had occupied only moments before, and buried his face in his hands. He heard a distant door slam closed, and he knew that Jocelyn was in her dormitory.

Sirius walked back down the stairs and sat across from Remus, looking at him sadly. "Moony?" he whispered cautiously, finally. How long the two of them sat there, it didn't matter. It could have been seconds, or minutes, or maybe even hours. "Moony, are you okay?"

"You heard?" Remus said weakly, picking his head up from his hands and looking at Sirius wearily.

"It was kind of hard not to," Sirius said truthfully; the fact was he had decided to leave the staircase and go up to his dorm, but he still heard the whole thing. "Moony, are you okay?"

"I—I," Remus was finding it extremely hard to string two words together. "I will be," he finally said, though his voice sounded slightly constricted, "I hope."

Sirius took one last look at his friend, and, deciding that what Remus needed most was some time alone, he walked back up the stairs. Remus sat, and sat, and sat, until the very edge of the common room carpet became lit with the first rays of dawn. And he made himself a vow that, no matter what, he would never fall in love again.

**A/N: This chapter is so depressing. I really didn't want to write it, but I have a reason why: In the books, Remus is single, and then in the end of the sixth book he tells Tonks things (I can't say them just in case somebody didn't read the sixth book and then I'd be spoiling it for them which would be bad even though it's not a major part…it's still SORTA important). So, yeah, that's why this chapter had to happen. Believe me, I was crying when I wrote it. But I'm a bit pathetic when it comes to those sort of things (I saw GHOST yesterday and I was hysterical for 20 minutes afterwards…yeah I love that movie)…Anyway, now I'm just rambling. REVIEW please!**


	27. Lions and Bludgers

**A/N: THIS CHAPTER IS TOTALLY DEDICATED TO LAUREN EFFING THOMAS, THE BFG! 3 we thought of the first part together…pretty funny stuff.**

**Lions and Bludgers**

"Lily!" Sirius called after the redhead as she climbed through the Heads portrait hole.

"What do you want?" Lily spat bitterly as Sirius ran up to her. One of her legs was hoisted up in the passageway through the portrait hole. Her arms were stretched above her, hands grasping the top of the hole and waiting to pull her up.

"Can I come in?" he said, gesturing to the portrait hole awkwardly. "I need to talk to you about something."

"If it's about a new hairstyle, then forget it," Lily said viciously, looking at Sirius in disgust and hoisting herself up through the portrait hole.

Sirius was quick, though, and he climbed in after her before the portrait swung shut. He looked around him before sitting on the plush, red armchair situated nearest him. Lily sat in the armchair across from him with a prominent scowl upon her face. The room was darkened due to the consistent storm clouds that hung low in the sky. "What do you want?" she asked, avoiding his gaze.

"Why did you break up with James?" Sirius asked her, his words gushing out of his mouth angrily. "Why did Jocelyn do what she did to Remus?"

Lily looked flabbergasted. "What did Jocelyn do?" she asked quietly, forgetting that she was supposed to be mad at Sirius for being friends with James.

Sirius turned slightly pink and did not answer her. "Never mind that now," Sirius said, waving a hand to dismiss the subject. "Why did you break up with James?" He leaned forward in his armchair and rested his elbows against his thighs, staring at Lily intently. She tried to look him in the eye, but found she couldn't. Her gaze faltered and she stared angrily at her own feet.

"I don't think that's any of your business," Lily said waspishly, folding her arms across her chest stubbornly.

"I think it is," Sirius said loudly, standing up abruptly, "seeing as he's my best mate!"

"I think you're a jerk!" Lily shouted angrily, getting more frustrated with Sirius (if that was even possible).

"I'm not a jerk!" Sirius exclaimed indignantly, though a smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. "I'm an S.O.B.! A son of a—"

"Don't even say it!" Lily said, holding up her hand and standing up to walk towards the staircase behind her that led up to her dormitory.

"BLACK! I was going to say BLACK!" Sirius called after her, smirking as he heard her scream in frustration, stomping up the stairs angrily and slamming her dormitory door closed. Several paintings on the walls shuddered.

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

James sat in the Great Hall, listening to the unremitting chatter all around him. Everyone was excited; after all, a Quidditch match was today, the first Gryffindor match of the season. **(A/N: just roll with it, please, don't know if it's entirely correct)** James, being team captain and chaser, should have felt at least some pre-game butterflies in his stomach, but he felt nothing of the sort. James had felt rather hollow and void of emotion ever since that horrible day in the beginning of January, when Lily had—well, when Lily had—oh, you know. Remus was sitting next to him, with the same blank expression plastered on his face. He was looking up at the enchanted ceiling, which showed a gloomy gray sky above them.

Sirius, Gryffindor's best beater, barged into the Great Hall and sat down in between Remus and James, pushing them aside to make room for him and putting his arms around their shoulders in a brotherly sort of way. "So, ready for the game today?" he asked excitedly, trying to get his friends to smile or make some kind sign that they acknowledged his presence.

James turned to face Sirius, his eyes vacant and his eyebrows furrowed down so that a worry-line appeared on his forehead. "Padfoot, not now," he said dejectedly, his voice sounding flat and monotonous.

"Prongs, please," Sirius pleaded, "we already forfeited one match when you went off saving Lily and then going to Hogsmeade. We can't afford another one!"

"I know, I know," James said with a sigh. "Let's get down to the pitch." He stood up and clapped Remus on the back, practically sending him headfirst into the plate of scrambled eggs in front of him. "Later, Moony."

James plodded towards the doors of the Great Hall and then out the oaken front doors, with Sirius in his wake, still trying to cheer him up. "Prongs, come on, this is our last year!" Sirius exclaimed, practically jumping with exaggerated excitement. "We've got to make it the best!"

James nodded without much enthusiasm. "Yup."

Sirius's smile slid off his face quicker than Stinksap. He frowned shook his head, trying to think of something that would get James motivated to play. Finally, an idea hit him. "James, you've got to play your best," he said, patting his friend on the back.

"Why?" James asked glumly as an icy wind whipped their cloaks around them. They were almost at the Quidditch pitch now, and the wind had become excruciatingly cold. The clouds still hung above them, such a dark shade of gray that they were almost black. The thought of going into those stormy clouds to throw around a stupid red ball made James long for the cold metal bench in the locker rooms. Quidditch just wasn't the same when he knew that there was no chance between Lily and him.

"Because Lily's going to be watching you, and you want to impress her," Sirius said simply as they approached the locker rooms.

James turned a delicate shade of green and swallowed hard. He opened and closed his mouth several times; Sirius suspected he had lost his ability to speak for a moment. "Padfoot!" he finally spluttered as he pulled on his scarlet Quidditch robes. "Why'd you have to remind me?"

"Just play," Sirius sighed, looking at James with a mixture of pity and exasperation displayed on his face as the rest of the team entered the room.

James looked at his teammates' eager faces. Everyone's eyes were tearing from the cold, and several noses were running. James clapped his hands together and rubbed them as he always did before a match, but without the usual vigor and enthusiasm. "Okay, team," he said dully, recalling Sirius's words from before, "this is my last year. We've got to make it the best." He paused and scratched his head before continuing, his voice as empty and bland as it had been before. "Yup. We've got to play our best. Why?" He slammed his fist against a locker, all his enthusiasm suddenly coming back to him. "BECAUSE LILY'S WATCHING ME, FOR MERLIN'S SAKE!" The team exchanged glances, perplexed. "Now let's get out there and prove to Lily that I'm awesome!"

The team walked out of the locker room, brooms over their shoulders, and headed onto the middle of the pitch to a vast amount of cheers and boos. The captains shook hands, and the two teams mounted their brooms and soared up into the icy wind. The balls were released, and the game had begun.

Half an hour into the game, Gryffindor was winning by twenty points. The wind had become even more brutal, and the clouds were a dark, menacing gray. James sped along on his broomstick with the scarlet Quaffle tucked under his right arm, swaying slightly off-course due to the ferocious gusts of wind. Suddenly he threw the Quaffle as hard as he could into the goal, pumping his fist up and down in celebration of his third goal of the day.

Suddenly something caught James's attention, also for the third time that day. Lily, who remained lost in the sea of people to everyone but James, was looking up at him. He froze, his arm raised in mid-air. Lily had not taken her eyes off him for the entire game. He moved to the left. Her eyes followed him. He sat on his broomstick numbly, quite unaware of the game around him.

"James, what're you doing?!" a teammate asked; he wasn't sure who.

James shook his head roughly in an attempt to get focused again. He _was_ captain of the team, after all! He couldn't mess up. The whole school was watching…_Lily_ was watching!

While these thoughts were swirling through James's head, his broomstick started drifting aimlessly to the right. "PRONGS," Sirius yelled from behind James, "DUCK!"

"JAMES!" Lily screamed, jumping up from the stands so many feet below. Something hard and heavy collided with the side of James's head, and she was the last thing he heard before he fell of his broom, unconscious.

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry about the cliffhanger. Yeah, this chapter is evil, I know. But you'll love what happens next ). Erm…I'm going away on Thursday morning for upstate New York, so I won't be able to update until _two weeks from now_. Please don't hate me. I'll make it up to you, I promise…the next chapter is lovely. P Oh, by the way, check out When Worlds Collide:Marauders&POTC (On my penname), Love Will Be Our Destiny (on FergieBEPs I think) and Love Throughout Time (on SilverwingsJP) REVIEW MY STORY!!! Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!**


	28. Love's the Most Powerful Magic

**Love is the Most Powerful Magic**

_It was Lily's sixteenth birthday. Lily sat on her front porch. Her hair was glistening in the bright July sun, and her mother was in the garden beside her, planting flowers of all different colors. Lily was playing with the charms on a charm bracelet on her left wrist; her father gave it to her when she had received her Hogwarts letter, as a present. She dropped her arms in her lap and turned to face her mother, her charm bracelet jingling daintily. "Did you ever think about how much things have changed?" she asked, putting a hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun. Her mother put down her gardening tools, wiped her muddy hands on her old denim pants, and sat down next to Lily._

_"Every day," she said, sighing. "You've grown up into such a wonderful young lady, Lily."_

_Lily laughed. "Don't go all old on me, mum," she said, smiling. "I'm only sixteen."_

_"Yes, but sixteen is much older than five." Her mother sighed. "What possessed you to ask such a question, anyway?"_

_"Well…" Lily blushed, unsure of where to begin. "Remember I told you about James in my letters? How he did all that annoying stuff, and how he was a real arrogant prat?"_

_"Yes," her mother said hesitantly. "You seemed to really hate him!"_

_Lily looked up into the sky with her eyes closed, letting the sun wash over her face. "That's just it," she said finally, turning to look again at her mother. "He changed. He's actually nice, he stopped cursing people in the hallways—for the most part, anyway—and he hasn't pulled a prank on me all year. I don't hate him anymore, mum. I think I…" Lily stopped, her words trailing away into nothing as she realized what she was about to say. She loved him._

_Suddenly the scenery changed. It was dark. Lily stood against the wall of her room. Voldemort was there, standing in front of her. "You're both very powerful. That would not be good for me, seeing as you are both so intent on joining the wrong side."_

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

Lily sat alone in the hospital wing beside James's bed. It was dawn. The first light of the sun's rays slit through the window and fell on Lily's face. Her eyes were closed; she had slept in the infirmary all night on a hard, wooden chair. Her hair fell across her face, and her head drooped down. There were tearstains on her cheeks. The minute hand on the clock on the wall hit the number twelve. It was six o'clock. Lily woke up abruptly, as if on impulse, and looked around her.

James was lying in the bed in front of her, with some cuts and bruises. Lily replayed the past day and a half in her mind. She saw James falling off his broom. She remembered jumping up and screaming, before running straight to the hospital wing and waiting for him to arrive there. She remembered listening numbly as she heard someone tell her that James would be okay, but would be in the hospital wing overnight. She remembered begging to stay in the hospital wing with him. Then she remembered her dream, and how stupid she was to be sitting there when he wasn't even hers anymore. And as she remembered, tears streamed slowly down her cheeks, retracing the lines that other tears had made. Voldemort's voice was echoing in her head. _Both very powerful…You're both very powerful…very, very powerful._

Suddenly Lily heard a voice coming from beside her, and she realized that she was no longer alone. "Don't cry, Lily," James said softly, where he laid on his bed propped up on one elbow. She stared at him, wide-eyed.

"You—you're okay!" she managed to get out before sliding from her chair and onto the floor, squatting on her knees next to the bed. She wrapped her arms around James and kissed his cheek. "I—I was worried."

"I figured," James said, blushing profusely, his voice muffled by the mass of red hair that had somehow found its way into his mouth. Lily pulled away from James and resumed her kneeling position on the cold tile floor. "Did we win?" he asked suddenly, sitting up straight in bed. "Ugh, my head hurts."

"I dunno if we won!" Lily exclaimed. "What kind of a question is that? And of course your head hurts, you took a bludger to the head!" She sighed and hugged him again. "But you'll be able to leave the hospital wing today."

"Lily, why are you here?" James asked as she moved away from him again and sat down cross-legged on the edge of his bed. "I thought you—I mean, you don't care anymore…do you?"

"I never stopped," Lily said quietly, biting her lower lip and looking down at her thumbnail, which suddenly became very interesting to her. "I was just being stupid. I—I never really took to heart what Dumbledore said that night, in the alleyway by Honeydukes. Remember? He said that we need each other, and we really do. At least…I do."

James sat, dumbfounded, as Lily looked him straight in the eye. He seemed unable to speak, but Lily took this as a sign that he didn't feel the same way. She stood up and started walking towards the door.

"Lily, wait!" James shouted after her, sitting bolt upright in bed. He was just in time. Lily stood, one foot out the doorway, and looked at James with tears in her eyes. "Why?"

"Because, James, I thought it was my fault you were lying in the hospital wing! I thought it was my fault that the Death Eaters were after us. I was wrong. Last night, I had a…a dream, I guess."

"What was in your dream?" James said quietly as Lily walked back over to his bed and sat down on the foot of it.

"First, I was sitting outside with my mother. It was my sixteenth birthday. I had told her that—that you changed. That was when all this started. But then my dream changed. I was standing against the wall in my room, and Voldemort was over me. He said…He said he wanted both of us. _Both of us._ Don't you see? This time apart, it didn't have to happen. I was…I was being foolish. I'm sorry."

James scooted over so he was sitting next to her. "It's okay," James said, his arms engulfing her into a hug. "It's okay." He leaned back and looked straight into Lily's beautiful green eyes. "I love you," he said sincerely, meaning it with every fiber of his being.

No other words were needed. Lily smiled coyly before bringing her lips upon his. "I missed you," she said, pulling back and smiling up at him.

He pulled her closer and kissed the tip of her nose just as Sirius, Remus, and Peter walked through the room, followed by Shayna, who was dragging Jocelyn along. Remus would have been embarrassed and putout if his friend had not been in the hospital wing.

"Well," Sirius said, rubbing his hands together, "I see that you've recovered."

Lily giggled and James twirled a strand of her hand around his forefinger. "In more ways than one, Padfoot."

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Voldemort sat upon a throne in a dark room, his hands resting upon armrests shaped like miniature human skeletons. "Enter," he said, his high, cold voice echoing around the cavernous room menacingly.

Two robed figures strode into the room. Through the gloom and darkness a shimmer of blonde hair could be seen peeking through a black hood of one of the figures. "My Lord," a delicate, female voice said from behind the hood, and as she swept down to kiss the hem of Lord Voldemort's robes, the blonde hair swished gently.

"Master," the other figure said, sweeping down and following the woman's motions.

"You have news for me, or so I have been told," Voldemort said coldly. "Pray tell me." His long, spindly fingers were folded, and he was twiddling his thumbs idly, as though he didn't really care at all about what the two Death Eaters had to say.

"They are back together," The woman said.

"Is that so?" Voldemort said slowly, standing up from his gruesome throne and pacing on the floor in front of them. His robes billowed behind him, and his red eyes were narrowed into angry slits. "Well, now, this is not happy news…not happy news at all." The man whimpered quietly. "SILENCE!" Voldemort roared, pulling out his wand from his pocket. His slit-like nostrils (for lack of a better word) flared out dangerously. "I smell fear." He rounded on the male figure. "Get out. Get out! Both of you! Out of my sight! I must think."

The two scurried out in whispers, the woman's blonde hair billowing down her back elegantly and swishing slightly with each step. Voldemort stood, watching it with blood-red eyes, before calling the woman back to him. "Tell me everything you know about them," he said coldly in her ear, his breath chilling her to the bone. "Everything you know, that can aid in their deaths."

**A/N: Hey guys. Decided to update a bit earlier than I had planned… I love this chapter. It's so sweet. Except for the ending. But you really should remember the ending. Can't tell you why, obviously. ANYWAYS, I'm writing a new story called RATS! and it's about Peter Pettigrew's story. You should really check it out, because it's turning out very good! Review, please, and as always, thanks for reading )**


	29. To Hogsmeade We Go

**To Hogsmeade We Go**

After five days of classes, word had gotten out that James and Lily were together again. James had to walk around with Lily everywhere she went, to protect her from the packs of girls that now wanted to wring her neck and claw her to pieces. Now, though, they sat together on a couch close to the roaring fire in the safety of the Heads common room.

James draped his arm around Lily's shoulder and she leaned on him. "How scary are those girls, eh?" he said, laughing.

Lily laughed heartily; James felt her shoulders shaking against him and marveled at how easily he made her laugh. "Pretty scary." Lily smiled, scooted up so she was sitting taller, and kissed James's cheek.

"James Potter, Protector Against the Seventh Year Girls," James mused. "Catchy, don't you think?"

Lily laughed again. "Very."

"You know, I wonder why Sirius doesn't have to guard Shayna everywhere _she _goes. I mean, at least half of the girl population in Hogwarts are in love with him! Wouldn't they want to get Shayna out of the picture, too?"

Lily smacked his chest playfully. "Shayna never did anything to them! Except go out with Sirius…anyway, he told all the girls in Gryffindor that if they did anything to her, he'd hex them. Word got around."

"How do you know?"

"I was there, in the Gryffindor common room. It was quite funny, actually."

Lily smiled to herself and leaned her head against James's shoulder, snaking an arm around his waist. James's arm was still around her shoulders. They sat like that for a while, silently staring at the fireplace, until James cleared his throat. "You know, Lily," he said quietly in her ear, "The Hogsmeade trip's tomorrow…Valentine's Day, and…Do you want to go with me?" Even though he had been with Lily everywhere for the past five days, not to mention that they shared living quarters and everything together, even though he could tell Lily he loved her, he was still shy to ask her out on a date. It was as if the seventh year had never happened, and James was still unsure of her answer.

Lily laughed at the blush that had crept up onto James's cheeks. "Of course."

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The next day, Lily and James walked into the Great Hall to find Shayna sitting by herself, poking the yolk of her egg with a fork vaguely and staring up at the ceiling above her. The ceiling perfectly mimicked the sky outside; it was a mild, soft gray that was customary for February. Lily sat down next to Shayna and pulled James down next to her. "Good morning, Shayna," Lily said tentatively, looking at her friend with concern.

"Sirius isn't up yet," she said in way of greeting, nodding in James's direction. She made to pick up the yolk on her fork, but it slipped and landed in her lap. She seemed not to notice.

"Shayna, are you okay?" Lily asked nervously. Shayna was always attentive. This was the first time anyone had ever seen her in the state she was in. She looked distinctly disheveled; her wavy hair was tangled and matted, her clothes were wrinkled, and she had bags under her eyes. Shayna only nodded in response.

Just then the Great Hall doors burst open and Sirius strutted in with a flower in his hand. "SHA-SHA," he called from across the room, "THIS IS FOR YOU, ALONG WITH A POEM!" He walked proudly over to where Shayna was sitting.

She stared at him blankly, and blinked slowly. Sirius didn't seem to notice, because he was on one knee and reading a piece of paper. Everyone in the room became silent. Even the professors were watching Sirius with countenances ranging from pity to anger to amusement to exasperation.

"Here is your poem, Shayna. I wrote it myself:

Your hair is like Swiss cheese with the holes filled in,

Your nose is perfect, along with your chin.

You are straight as an arrow, tall as a tree,

And you're good-looking, just like me!

So Shayna, ponder this, while eating your breakfast dish.

I wonder, will you be a genie and grant my wish?

Come to Hogsmeade with me, today on Valentine's Day,

And even if you say no, I'll drag you along anyway!"

Sirius stood up and took a bow. Gradually the chatter started in the Great Hall again, with much laughter and quotations of Sirius's poem. "So, Shayna, did you like it?" he asked Shayna, looking at her with expectant eyes as he sat down beside her. Shayna shrugged her shoulders and said, "I dunno. Wasn't paying attention," before turning back to her second yolk and stabbing it ferociously.

James motioned for Sirius to sit next to him, which he did. "Sirius, is Shayna okay?" James asked quietly, watching her continue to stab her yolk. Lily was talking to her animatedly, but Shayna wasn't paying attention.

"I think," Sirius said, shoving bacon onto his plate with his hands and licking his fingers. "She's just worried. She came into the dorm last night…It's only Remus, Peter, and me now of course…well, anyway, she came into the dorm last night really late. I think it must've been three in the morning or something. She said she was in the library…and then she crawled into my bed—no, Prongs, not THAT way—and fell asleep. She kept muttering something about Voldemort in her sleep. I think she's worried about getting attacked. Last time someone went to Hogsmeade, it was you and Lily, and we all know what happened then."

"Maybe you should stay here with her," Lily said quietly. "She probably needs to just relax. She's been pretty distant lately…Why don't you just sit with her in the library?"

Sirius choked on his pumpkin juice he had been about to drink and sprayed it everywhere. "The _library_?" Sirius asked in a panicked whisper, looking at Lily as though she were insane. "Are you really that _thick_? There isn't a library here!"

Lily's eyebrows furrowed down in confusion. "No," she said, returning Sirius's shocked stare. "The library's a perfectly fine place to—"

"ARE YOU DAFT?" Sirius exclaimed, slamming down his goblet and drenching the table in pumpkin juice. "There is no library…Unless, of course, you're Remus. Then there is…"

"Take her to the Room of Requirement, then," James said, trying hard not to laugh at his best mate's behavior.

Lily, who had finished eating, put her hand on James's shoulder. "Let's go?"

James stood up and so did Lily. "Have fun today," James said, nodding at Sirius. "Oh, and don't let Remus get too down on himself." James put his arms around Lily and steered her out of the Great Hall before pulling open the great oak doors that lead outside. A gust of wind blew and whipped Lily's hair around her face, and James laughed at how she squinted to keep the wind out of her eyes.

They started down the dirt path leading to Hogsmeade, hand in hand. Lily's nose and cheeks turned a delicate pink from the cold, and their breaths were coming out in clouds. They walked in content silence, each lost in their own thoughts, until finally Lily spoke. "What did Jocelyn do to Remus?" she asked quietly, afraid to talk loudly and disrupt the silent peace that they were currently walking through.

James sighed. "Nobody told you?" He stopped walking and looked back up at the castle; at its many turrets and towers and windows that loomed over the Black Lake. Lily shook her head as another gust of wind blew her hair out of her face gracefully. "Let's go to the Shrieking Shack, and I'll tell you there. Nobody's going to be there."

They veered off the path leading towards the main streets of Hogsmeade and up a steeper path that was less worn. "Isn't the Shrieking Shack haunted?" Lily asked apprehensively. She had never been up to the Shack for fear of the "violent ghosts" that she heard people talk about. She hadn't had a problem with the school ghosts, but these ghosts could be different from them.

"Yeah," James said, "about as haunted as my underwear! Remus goes there to deal with his…um…furry little problem." The light grew dimmer as they walked through a path of trees.

Lily nodded. "I assumed he had to go somewhere…I just never knew where."

They walked on the dirt path in silence for a while, neither sure of what to say. The path was laden with many leaves left over from autumn, and snow littered the ground in patches where there was little sun. James and Lily frequently stubbed their toes on the roots protruding from the ground. Finally, they arrived at the barb-wired fence surrounding the house.

"So," James said, rubbing his cold hands together and blowing on them.

"So," Lily repeated, staring out at the dreary house. Its windows were boarded up, its paint was chipping from weather and neglect, and the roof was missing several shingles. The sky was a pale gray, and the village behind the house seemed ghostly, with several black splotches where there were Hogwarts students wandering about in the old-fashioned, cobblestone streets. "What happened with Remus and Jocelyn?" she asked finally, breaking the awkward silence.

"Moony didn't tell Jocelyn that he's…well, he didn't tell her what he is. One night Sirius blabbed something, so Moony had to tell Jocelyn about him. So he said it nicely and all that, but Jocelyn figured out that he had been lying to her about his sick mother—that's the lie he told us before we figured out about his furry little problem. She got really mad, and broke up with him." James didn't dare to look at Lily; he didn't want to see her reaction to what her friend had done.

"Wow," Lily breathed, frowning. "That's—That's—that's just—wow. I mean, I always knew that Jocelyn blew things up out of proportion, but this is too much. They were perfect! I'll talk to her."

They stood in silence for a few more awkward moments, neither sure what to say to the other. This was the first time they had been truly alone together since the Death Eaters had attacked the Three Broomsticks. Lily inched closer to James and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Dance with me?" James said suddenly in Lily's ear as she leaned her head on his chest.

Lily laughed. "James, there's no music!"

James shrugged. "So?"

"You can't dance without music," Lily said. "It's too hard."

"No, it's not. I'll show you." James placed one of Lily's hands on his shoulder and took the other in his own. "Now, just follow me." He put his two feet together, then moved his left forward. Lily did the opposite, placing her right foot behind her. Then he put his right foot by his left, far apart from it. Lily again did the opposite. He put his feet together again. So did Lily. Then he did what Lily did, and she the opposite. Before long they had fallen into rhythm and were dancing in the clearing by the Shrieking Shack. Snow had started fluttering down lightly on their hair, giving the place an enchanted look. Lily sighed, content to be in James's arms. James spun her around, and dipped her expertly, before pulling her up and twirling her around, her feet lifting off the ground and her hair whipping around gracefully behind her. He put her down gently and she kissed him on the cheek.

"Where did you learn to dance like that?" Lily asked curiously.

"My mum signed me up for etiquette classes," James said, grimacing. "I never knew they would come in handy one day!" He paused, looking into Lily's brilliant emerald-green eyes. "I missed you so much," he whispered quietly, sorrowfully.

"Me too," Lily said, standing on her tiptoes. "Too much." She put her lips against his and closed her eyes, kissing him softly. She pulled away after a moment and smiled at him. "Too, too much."

**A/N: yay for long chapters! This, personally, is one of my favorites in the whole story. I really like it. Anyways, THANK YOU FOR THE 225 REVIEWS! Let's get it to 250, shall we? Only 25 more! Review, please!**


	30. Er

**Er**

Jocelyn sat by the window in the Gryffindor common room, watching as clouds drifted over the crescent moon peacefully. _Maybe Lily was right,_ she thought, remembering the conversation she had had with Lily moments before. _Maybe I should talk to Remus._

As if on cue, Remus walked down the boy's staircase with a book in one arm. Jocelyn turned around at the sound of his footsteps and her eyes widened as she realized who had come down; Remus simply nodded curtly towards her and sat by the fireplace, stretching his sock-clad feet towards the warmth it spread.

Jocelyn sighed. _Just go talk to him,_ she told herself sternly, standing up from her chair and walking over to him. She sat in an armchair next to him and cleared her throat. "H-Hi Remus," she stuttered.

"Hello Jocelyn," he said coldly, not taking his eyes off his book. Realizing she was still there staring at him, he picked his head up. "Is there something you want?"

"Ye—no," she said. She had changed her mind mid-sentence. "No, nothing. Just…hi. Well, er, 'bye." She stood up and walked over to where she was sitting before.

"Goodnight, Jocelyn," Remus said in disdain, standing up swiftly and heading again towards the boys' staircase.

"Remus, wait!" Jocelyn called, standing up and raising her hand towards him.

"What?" Remus asked through gritted teeth, desperately trying to remain polite and calm.

"I just wanted to ask—that is, I wanted to know—" Jocelyn stuttered, wondering whether to say what was really on her mind. She sighed. "I wanted to know if I—well, if I could possibly borrow that book?" Her conscience berated her for not saying what her heart wanted her to, but she pushed the thought aside.

"Er…fine!" He had lost his temper, and threw the book, which landed on the floor in front of Jocelyn's feet.

"Thanks…Goodnight, Remus," she said, picking up the book.

"Goodnight!" Remus exclaimed briskly, running up the boys' staircase before she could utter another word.

Jocelyn stood, book in hand, and watched as Remus' socks quickly disappeared from sight, along with the rest of him. She sat down in a chair and flipped the book over and over again in her hands, fluttering the pages, yet not paying attention to it at all. Her mind was reeling. One solitary tear slid down her cheek slowly, and she knew what she had to do.

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The sky was completely covered by a blanket of clouds by the time Jocelyn had worked up enough courage to do what she knew was necessary. She stood up with a sniffle and walked up the boys' staircase to Remus' dormitory, where she knew Sirius and Peter also slept.

She walked into the dormitory and pulled back the curtains of a four-poster bed, shaking the lump sleeping within it. "Guhhh," a voice moaned groggily from inside. "Waddayawan?"

"Remus, we need to talk about something," Jocelyn whispered urgently, pulling the half-asleep lump out of bed before screaming. "AH! You're not Remus!"

"'Course I'm not Remus," Sirius exclaimed loudly, rubbing his eyes blearily. "If I were Remus, I'd know—well, I'd know—er, I'd know…stuff!"

"Shh!" Jocelyn whispered, putting a hand to his mouth and pushing both herself and him onto the bed again to muffle the sound of his talking.

"Wow, Jocelyn, I didn't know you felt this way," Sirius said, his voice garbled from Jocelyn's hand over his mouth. "I have a girlfriend, you know…this might pose as a problem."

"Sirius, just shut up and tell me which bed is Remus'!"

"You know, Jocelyn darling, I can't shut up and tell you at the same time."

Jocelyn growled in frustration. "Show me where Remus' bed is and then go back to sleep," she said angrily. He pointed to the one next to his. "'Nighty night!" she said. Two seconds later, Sirius was snoring again, rather loudly.

Jocelyn walked over to Remus' bed and pulled back the hangings roughly. She looked at Remus for a moment before shaking him awake; he looked so peaceful in his sleep. "Jocelyn?" he mumbled, looking up at her in shock.

"Yeah, come downstairs, we really need to talk." She pulled Remus up out of bed and down the stairs, before sitting him down on an armchair. She sat across from him.

"What's going on?" Remus asked, confused. "Is something wrong with Lily and James?"

"No, they're fine," Jocelyn said, frowning. "Don't you get it, Remus? I want a truce." Jocelyn held her hand out in front of her stiffly as Remus eyed it suspiciously.

"Okay, Jocelyn, what do you really want?" he spat. "Answers for an exam, maybe?"

"No! No, I really want a truce," Jocelyn exclaimed, letting her arm fall limply at her side. "Please? I blew that whole lying thing out of proportion. I'm sorry."

"Does—Does this mean we're—well, that is to say, are we together?" Remus asked, looking at her hopefully.

Jocelyn looked at him, eyes full of sorrow. "No, Remus. I'm sorry. I just…it wouldn't feel right. Not because you're a—because you have a problem, but because I don't know if you would have enough to support both of us after graduation. I know we talked about plans, but I just don't see how it can work. I want to be friends with you."

"Okay," Remus said weakly, though his eyes looked a bit glassy, "friends is okay. Friends is just fine."

Jocelyn smiled. "Goodnight, Remus," she said quietly, and she took a hold of his hand and squeezed it briefly before going up the girls' staircase.

Remus sat there, looking at his hand in the dying firelight as though seeing it for the first time. "Goodnight, Jocelyn," he whispered to the empty room. "Friends…is okay." He nodded, and looked as though he was trying to convince himself. "Friends is okay."

**A/N: Poor Remus. I feel so bad. But, Remus will get over it. Thankss soooooooo much for all the reviews! I need less than 20 to get to 250! ACK I'm so psyched. I love you guys! So, review please :-)**


	31. Graduation Looms Nearer

**Graduation Looms Nearer**

Lily walked down to the Great Hall that Monday, accompanied not only with James, but also with all the Marauders (of course, without Peter). They were all laughing at the latest prank Sirius was planning to pull on Professor Slughorn.

"The only problem," Sirius was saying, "is that my Sticking Charm isn't the best. It wears off in a bout five minutes…at its best."

Lily stopped walked and stared into space for a moment, before snapping her fingers and smirking. "I've got it!"

Sirius stared at her in awe. "I never thought I'd see the day when _Lily Evans_ helps the _Marauders_ with a prank! Prongs, mate, you've done well with this one."

"Oh, shut up," Lily said, smiling. "Now, here's the plan: Since Muggles obviously don't have Sticking Charms, they use a paste called Crazy Glue. It sticks to anything."

"Brilliant!" James exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Lily's waist. "This is probably our best prank yet!"

"Just one thing," Remus said, a bit happier than he had been in a while. "How are we going to get what we need?"

"Why, Lily need only to write home for the Lazy Blue," Sirius said pompously, thinking that what he had said was extremely intelligent.

"It's called Crazy Glue," Lily said, laughing. She pulled open the doors of the Great Hall and walked towards the Gryffindor house table. "And I'll write to Petunia and ask her…well, maybe not Petunia…er, who else could I write to?"

"I've got it," James said. "I'll write to Arthur. He's a family friend, older than us. He collects Muggle things. He mentioned Crazy Glue once."

"Ol' Sluggy won't know what hit him," Sirius said, chuckling.

The group sat down, and James pulled a piece of parchment and a quill out of his book bag and began scribbling a letter. A clicking of heeled shoes came steadily closer, and Professor McGonagall's voice rang out. "Mr. Potter, Miss Evans, please come with me."

James shoved the half-written letter into his pocket in the jeans under his robes and shared a bewildered glance with Lily. Had McGonagall found out about their plans for pranking Slughorn? They walked in silence down the empty corridors. James fiddled with the hem of his sleeve, and Lily bit her lip nervously. McGonagall walked ahead of them briskly. "Keep walking," she snapped. "Look alive! We don't have much time before classes begin."

Finally, they reached McGonagall's office. McGonagall sat behind a desk with a shiny, polished nameplate bearing the words _Professor McGonagall: Deputy Headmistress_. "Sit," she said, conjuring up two straight-backed, wooden chairs in front of her desk.

"Erm, Professor, did we—erm, are we in trouble?" Lily asked quietly, rubbing her foot behind her other ankle nervously.

"Goodness, no," McGonagall said airily. Then her hawk-like eyes narrowed sharply. "Is there a reason why you should be?"

"Uh, no, no," Lily said quickly, "we just thought, you know, usually when someone comes into your office…" She let her words drift off into silence.

McGonagall cleared her throat. "Well, that is not the case here. No, Professor Dumbledore merely asked me to inform you that you will be planning your graduation party. This includes entertainment, what everyone will be doing, attire, location, and so on. You have until early May…around three months."

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Later that night, James and Lily sat on the couch in the Heads common room, with a low table in front of them bearing a blank piece of parchment and a quill. Lily and James both stared at the parchment intently, resting their heads in their hands and their elbows on their knees.

Lily's mind was wandering towards Jocelyn and Remus. They weren't speaking as much as they used to (and Lily guessed that they never would), but they now were able to hold a polite conversation with one another. And what about Shayna? Lily noticed that she was very distant towards everyone; she no longer yearned to know about how Lily and James were, or cared if Sirius was going to ask her on a date or not. The only person she seemed to really talk to was Sirius, if she was feeling a bit like her old self. Lily's mind strayed to Peter. Why would Voldemort want him? It wasn't like he had any magic skills or special—wait, he was an animagus, James had told her once. They all were. Except for Remus, of course.

James's mind had wandered, as well, but to less important things. He had sent the letter to Arthur asking for a container of Crazy Glue. The glue was now sitting on his nightstand, waiting for the morning, waiting for when the prank would begin.

Lily cleared her throat. "Er, James?" she said uncertainly, sitting up straight and turning to face him. "I need to talk to you."

James sat bolt upright, eyes wide. "Is this about us? 'Cause, you know, if I'm doing something wrong I swear by Merlin's left buttock that I'll fix it!" he exclaimed in a rush.

"No, you're…" Lily sighed, "You're perfect. No, it's about Peter."

James looked flabbergasted. "You're cheating on me with _WORMTAIL_?!"

"No, James, I love you. But, you don't think that he's acting a bit strange?" Lily raised an eyebrow. "Stranger than usual, I mean," she added as an afterthought.

"No," James said, scratching the tip of his nose in thought. "If anything, I'd say he's acting more normal than I've ever seen him…which, in itself, is pretty strange."

"That's what I meant," Lily said, sighing again. "You don't think he's a…a Death Eater, do you?" Lily knew that he was for a fact, but she was too afraid to say it out loud.

James laughed. "Lily," he said, putting his arm around her tense shoulders, "Peter's dumb. I'll admit that. But he's not _that_ dumb!"

"Sometimes I'm not so sure," Lily said, biting her lip. "It would explain how the Death Eaters got into the castle the night they took me to my old home, and how Malfoy knew to find us at the Three Broomsticks."

"Lily, don't forget about Snivellus. He's foul enough to be a Death Eater. Peter's not a bad guy."

Lily frowned, aggravated. It was useless trying to convince James, or anyone else for that matter, that Peter was not as good as he seemed to be. "Okay, well, let's start planning," Lily said, picking up her quill and holding it poised about the parchment. "We should have the party outside, maybe by the lake."

James nodded. "Yeah. You know what would be cooler? _ON_ the lake!"

"How would we do that?"

"Well, we could conjure a huge sheet of glass, and charm it to be unbreakable, and then fit it over the lake without it moving. Y'know, a Sticking Charm or something!"

Lily smiled, imagining the entire Seventh year standing on water. "That would be amazing! We could use a charm that I found, _colloportus_, to sort of squelch the glass to the grass on the edges of the lake. Imagine…walking on water!"

"What should everyone wear? Surely not school robes. I'm sick of wearing the same bloody thing for seven years!" James stood up, pulled off his robe so that he was wearing his jeans and a tee shirt, and threw it on the floor.

"Dress robes, of course! Pastel colors…or, I've got it! Everyone should wear either white or a shade of blue, to match the water theme!"

"I guess…What about entertainment?"

"We could get that new band to come…I think they're called the Weird Sisters? Anyway, they're only about two years older than us, so I'll bet they want to come back to Hogwarts."

James smiled. "Brilliant. We could write them a letter tomorrow morning. Let's write all this down, so we remember it."

"I think we'll remember," Lily said coyly, putting the quill on the table. "We have until May…by the way, James, you're much better at planning that I would have expected. You deserve a kiss." Lily kissed him lightly on his lips.

"I deserve two," James said, smiling and pulling Lily close to him. He pushed her hair behind her ear gently and ran his finger down to her chin, before tilting her face up towards his. His eyes flickered from her eyes to her lips, then back to her eyes again. He leaned forward and kissed her gently. Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and played with the hair at the nape of his neck. James's hand rested on the small of her back, while the other ran through her red locks.

Lily pulled back and smiled at him. "More than two," she whispered in his ear, and kissed him again.

**A/N: So, in my haste to get 250 reviews, I was nice enough to add during the middle of the week too ) And now I have 240. Only 10 more to go, people! Next chapter's the prank; it's hysterical in my opinion…It was actually something that I've always wanted to do to one of my teachers…erm, anyways, review, please!**


	32. Crazy Glue and Bacon

**Crazy Glue and Bacon**

James ran down to the Great Hall the next morning with the Crazy Glue clutched tightly in his fist. "I've got it!" he exclaimed, skidding to a stop and sliding into a seat next to Sirius.

"Great," Sirius said, "It's all planned out. Slughorn always stays late after breakfast, to eat the leftovers from the staff table. Moony figured that out, Merlin knows how."

"Where is Moony?" James asked, looking around the table for him.

"With Jocelyn, apparently," Sirius said smugly. "They went to talk about something, or something like that. Anyway, I think they're in the library."

James frowned. "Well, not a chance we're going to look for him in _there_! …So, what do Slughorn's eating habits have to do with the plan to prank him?"

Sirius smirked. "Lily's wiping your brain clean, eh? We can sneak into his classroom before he gets there!"

"Right," James said, wagging a finger at Sirius. "I knew that. Definitely."

"Sure you did."

James shoveled some eggs and bacon onto his plate and began eating. Before long, Sirius had snatched the bacon from his plate. "Hey, _fleabag_, there's a whole plate of bacon right there! Why do you have to steal _mine_?"

"Because, _twiggy_, I live to annoy you," Sirius said, taking yet another piece of bacon from James's plate.

"Are you calling me scrawny, Padfoot? Huh, are you?"

"No," Sirius said, laughing at his friend's clueless behavior. "You're a stag remember? With sticks on your head?"

"Oh," James said. "Well, can I have my bacon back?"

"Here," Sirius said, hanging it above his head.

James opened his mouth and raised his hand to get it.

"PSYCHE!" Sirius shouted, popping the bacon in his mouth, whole.

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

Sirius took the Crazy Glue out of his pocket and looked around cautiously, making sure nobody was around the corridor or in Slughorn's storage rooms. Remus and James stood watch outside the door.

A minute later, Sirius walked out of the classroom and gave Remus and James the thumbs-up. "All set," he said, smirking.

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

The class filed into Slughorn's room at the sound of the bell, with Remus, James, and Sirius being the last ones in. James sat next to Lily and whispered in her ear, "Everything's all set. Prepare for the best prank in all our history here."

Lily giggled. "I forgot all about it," she said, blushing. "What with all those kisses you deserved."

"I still think I deserve more," James said, pouting. "You didn't give me enough."

"James, I had to go to bed!" Lily protested, frowning. "We have classes today! It was already late when we first started planning!"

"Fine," James said, looking at the door. "Oh, here comes Sluggy!"

Professor Slughorn's round belly came through the doorway, followed by the rest of him. "Hello class," he said, standing in front of his chair. "Your potions have been maturing since the last time we met, and they are now ready to be finished. Get to work!"

The Marauders and Lily walked to the potions storage room and grabbed the ingredients they needed, snickering and trying to keep straight faces. They walked back to the main classroom to find Slughorn asleep on his chair. "Perfect," Sirius breathed. "Okay, watch this."

He walked over to the sleeping Slughorn and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Professor Slughorn, I need some help with my potion," he said innocently.

Slughorn's eyes opened sleepily. "Yes, Mr. Black, just a second. I must've dozed off," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

Sirius turned to Remus, James, and Lily, and winked. "Thank you, Professor. It's just a minor thing, but I'm having trouble measuring how much of the ingredient has to go into my potion before it can simmer."

"Yes, of course," Slughorn said, and he put his hands on the arms of his chair to get up, but found he couldn't. He grunted, trying to pick his head off of the back of the chair. "Sirius, would you mind pulling the back of my chair off of my head. It must've gotten stuck to my balding spot," he whispered to Sirius, who tried his hardest to keep a straight face.

"Certainly," he said, walking behind the chair. He yanked with all his might.

"ARRRRRRG!" Slughorn screamed. Suddenly the entire class turned to the front of the room, where Slughorn was trying to walk around with a chair stuck to his head. The entire class laughed loudly, pointing at Slughorn and whispering to each other about how he looked like a walrus with a leech stuck to his head. The potions they were all working on started bubbling as though the liquid was boiling water. "CLASS!" Slughorn yelled, eyes tearing. "CLASS! DON'T LAUGH! YOUR ANGER POTION WON'T LIKE IT! IT'S GOING TO—" A tremendous pop, as though a huge balloon just burst, resounded throughout the classroom. Everyone was drenched with the green potion. "—explode," Slughorn finished lamely, massaging his temples and wiping the sticky green potion out of his eyes. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and sighed. "_Scourgify_," he said, waving his wand. The potion disappeared into nothingness. "Okay, free class while I figure out how I'm going to walk around with a chair stuck to my head."

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

Shayna and Sirius sat alone in the Gryffindor common room, watching the embers die from the fire in the fireplace. Shayna's head rested on Sirius's shoulder, where it fit perfectly, and her arms were around his waist in a loose embrace. Sirius turned his head to face Shayna. "Shayna," he said, "I love you."

Shayna laughed. "How many other girls have you said that to?" she asked, mocking his reputation of being the 'Supreme Sex-God of All Hogwarts'.

Sirius's face remained sober. "None," he said simply, kissing her nose. Shayna's face was graced with a small smile; a reminiscence of what she once was. "Well," Sirius said expectantly, "don't you have something to say, too?"

Shayna turned away from him and stared at the embers, rubbing her forearm. "I keep thinking about what's going to happen after Hogwarts," she said quietly, evading Sirius's question and missing the glum look on his face.

He smiled and turned her face to look at him, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "You'll come live with me, of course," Sirius said, as though stating the obvious.

"Sirius, I—I can't." Tears welled up in Shayna's expressive blue eyes. "I can't."

Sirius's smile slid off his face like water off a raincoat. "Why not?" he asked. "Shayna, why not?"

Shayna turned her eyes away from him. "My parents wouldn't like it," she mumbled.

"But why?"

Shayna paused. "We're not…erm…engaged or anything," she said uncertainly.

"Oh," Sirius said, scratching his chin. A few awkward moments passed.

"I'm sorry," Shayna said, kissing his cheek.

"No, no, it's fine," Sirius lied. "I'm going to go to bed. Listen, Shayna, don't worry about after Hogwarts. Everything is going to be fine, I promise."

**A/N: It's times like these that I REALLY WANT SIRIUS SOOOO BADLY! Well, erm, about 2 weeks until my birthday (December 30), so I'll update before then and you can tell me happy birthday ) well, if you want to. Anyways, this is the prank that I've always wanted to try out. And I thought they should do it on Slughorn because my teacher was like Slughorn…he's retired now. Anyways, review, please!**


	33. Dreams of Demons

**Dreams of Demons**

Voldemort paced back and forth in front of his sinister skeleton throne, fingering his wand fondly. "Malfoy!" he called out suddenly, his chillingly cold and high voice echoed throughout the dark, cavernous room.

"Yes, master." A man, wearing a long black robe and a vindictive skull mask, ran into the room, and, in his rush to bow to the ground and kiss his master's feet, stumbled on the foot of his robe.

"Get up, slime," Voldemort hissed maliciously. "We have work to do. Show it to me."

Malfoy rolled up the sleeve of the robe on his left arm and held it out, displaying a gruesome tattoo; it was a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth, like a horrid, slithering tongue. Voldemort placed the tip of his wand to it. Malfoy screamed as the tattoo turned a bloody red, then returned back to jet-black. Suddenly, many people, all clad like Malfoy, surrounded the pair and bowed low, kissing Voldemort's feet.

Voldemort opened his arms in welcome, showing ghastly, dirty fingernails and pale, spider-like fingers. "Welcome, my servants," he said, his voice once again echoing around the immeasurable room. "Let me first begin by explaining why I have summoned you here, to this very spot, and why." He gestured to the darkness surrounding him, and the air became nauseatingly sweet, as though filled with rotting plants and flesh. "This, my friends, is how we will come to infinite power! In this very place is the key to all of your dreams and fantasies! For in this place, the dementors have been breeding."

Out of the gloom drifted the horrible creatures, sucking in raggedy breaths from under their hoods. The circle of Death Eaters shuddered; even they could not remain still under the powers of the dementors. The dementors glided to the center of the ring, where Voldemort stood motionless, arms still outstretched.

"My most faithful followers," Voldemort announced to the quivering circle. "They have been by my side since day one. They alone knew what I would do, and who I would become. They know that I am the most powerful wizard in all the world, and that is why they are here, following my command, awaiting my orders. And now, it is time to unleash them, to do my bidding." Voldemort paused, lowering his arms. He looked at all of the Death Eaters with narrowed eyes, his slits of nostrils expanding with each deep breath he took. "And their first order is to weed out any unfaithful servants."

He raised his left hand, and the dementors swarmed around the circle, their raggedy breaths echoing. They all stopped at one figure. "Please, my lord," the figure begged in a weak, raspy voice, "I did nothing, nothing at all!"

"Silence, fool! It is because you did nothing that you are to be punished." Voldemort looked at his Death Eater in the eye. "I daresay the dementors love wrongdoers…enough to, possibly, kiss them."

"No! No, my lord, please, have mercy!" the man begged, putting his hands over his face in anguish.

"The Dark Lord shows no mercy," Voldemort spat, kicking the man's shins so that he fell to the floor. A dementor swept down swiftly, raising its arms to reveal the scabbed, decayed flesh of its hands. It lowered its hood. Where eyes should have been, there were only flesh-covered sockets. There was no nose, only the stub of something that had decayed where the nose should have been. The only thing that looked remotely human was the mouth. The mouth, which took in another raggedy breath. The man screamed and writhed, trying to run away, but Voldemort had cast a spell on him so that he could not move. The dementor bent down and pried the man's hands from his face. The Death Eater took one last breath. "Please, no, don't!" The dementor's mouth muffled the man's last scream. Miles and miles away, Lily Evans screamed with him.

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

James ran into Lily's room, skidding in his socks. "LILY!" he shouted, running over to her bed. "LILY, ARE YOU OKAY?"

Lily woke up, shivering and sweating. "The—The—The dementors!" she gasped.

"Lily, calm down," James said. "It was only a dream."

"No, this one was real," Lily protested, sitting up straight in her bed. "Voldemort's got the dementors. They kissed a man. I felt it." She gasped and placed a hand to her chest. "It feels—my—my heart hurts. Like it's been ripped into tiny pieces."

James was shaking now; his hand trembled as he brushed her hair behind her ears. "Lily, no, don't say that. It's not real."

"James, we have to hurry. We have to go to Dumbledore."

**A/N: Okay, so, just to clarify things, that Voldie thing was Lily's dream. She seems to be dreaming about Voldie a lot, now, doesn't she? Lots of interesting information in the next chapter! Um, I'm kind of stuck because a lot of stuff has been happening at home, so don't kill me if it takes a while to update…and if you have any suggestions for what should happen next, then review them and I'll be very grateful and I won't forget to mention that it was you that helped me :-). Review, please! Almost 300! Wow I love you guys! Okay, I'm done rambling.**


	34. Thrice Defied

**Thrice Defied**

Lily ran through the corridors in her bathrobe, pajamas, and slippers, with James on her heels clad in similar clothing. Their footsteps echoed loudly, but they were too intent on getting to their destination to care. "Almost…there," Lily panted, skidding around a corridor. She and James stood doubled over in front of Dumbledore's stone gargoyle, trying to catch their breath.

"Fizzing Whisbees," James panted. The gargoyle stepped aside and the two of them sped up the spiral staircase and into Dumbledore's office.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Lily exclaimed, running to where Dumbledore sat behind his desk. She leaned on the desk for support. "Professor, something dreadful has happened!"

Dumbledore looked up at Lily, his blue eyes staring at her without their usual sparkle. "Please, Miss Evans, Mr. Potter, sit down," he said, gesturing to the two cushioned chairs in front of his desk.

"Professor, I'm not really sure what happened," James said in a rush, sitting down. "Lily screamed, so I went into her room to see what was wrong. She woke up and told me…well, she'll tell you."

Lily took a deep breath. "I was asleep, and I had a—well, I guess the best way would be to call it a nightmare, but it wasn't that. It felt real, tangible. Voldemort was in a—a cave, or something. And all his Death Eaters were there. He—he told them…I think he said that he was breeding dementors? Well, the dementors are on his side, Professor."

"I see," Professor Dumbledore said calmly.

"He told them to weed out anyone who was unfaithful among his followers, or…useless. They found one man, and gave him"—Lily took a shuddering breath as a few tears streamed down her cheeks—"they gave him the Dementor's Kiss. I felt it. It felt—It felt like someone ripped my heart into pieces and stomped on them. It was—horrible." Lily sniffled and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "Do you know what my…er…my dream, or vision, or whatever it was…do you know what it means?"

"I believe," Dumbledore started delicately, looking at her closely from over his half-moon glasses, "that Voldemort sent it to you. It is my understanding that he is intent on having you on his side…or having you dead." He paused, surveying the two teens in front of him sadly. "What he meant by sending you this, I can only guess. However, I think that he wanted to show you where he was. He wants you to go after him. In not doing so, you have defied him," Dumbledore sighed, "thrice."

"But, Professor," Lily protested, "isn't there something we could do? You know, about the dementors?"

Dumbledore sighed. "I'm afraid the only thing we can do is to inform the Ministry of Magic. Surely they will issue out a warning."

James, after remaining silent throughout the whole thing, spoke up. "Sir, did we really…er…'defy him thrice', or whatever you said?"

Dumbledore nodded sadly. "Yes," he said gravely. "And let me stress how important that is. For no one else has defied Lord Voldemort thrice…and lived."

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

Sirius walked through the empty streets of Hogsmeade stealthily, his cloak clasp the only thing visible in the darkness. He couldn't believe what he was doing, but it was too late to turn back now. He walked to a small, unnoticeable shop that he knew would be open, and walked through the door.

"I'm here to pick _it_ up," Sirius whispered nervously to the shop owner, who was sitting half-asleep in his chair.

"_It_," the man said. "Of course." He turned around, picked up a small parcel, and put it on the glass counter between Sirius and himself.

"Thanks," Sirius said, handing the man twenty gold Galleons; they were the savings of more than five years. He was planning on using the Galleons to pay for a flying motorcycle, but this—well, this was far more important.

"You're a bit young to be handling that, now, aren't you?" the shopkeeper asked, pointing at the parcel that now lay in the palm of Sirius's hand.

"You're a bit old for gossip, now, aren't you?" Sirius said, smirking. "And besides, I'm of-age now."

"If you say so," the man said, sighing, as he watched Sirius walk out of his shop and disappear into the night.

**A/N: So, here it is. Everything is slowly coming to a close for the seventh years, but it's not over yet! A few more things happen that will really change everything. But that's all I'm saying. Anyways, tomorrow (December 30), is my birthday! So, the next time I update, I'll be FOURTEEN! Wow. So, um, review please? Kay, thanks.**


	35. Caradoc Dearborn

**Caradoc Dearborn**

March came quickly, and with it came gusts of wind that battered relentlessly on the castle walls and blew eerie shadows through the windows at night.

Lily, Jocelyn, Shayna, and the Marauders **(A/N: from now on, when I say Marauders, I exclude Peter because he's like never around anymore) **were sitting in the library (much to the distaste of Sirius and James) during their break, talking quietly. Shayna had once again become the happy, attentive teen she had been before, and was currently resting her head on Sirius's shoulder as he played with her hair.

A seventh year Ravenclaw passed by where the six of them were sitting. He was handsome; he had wavy auburn hair that tickled his ears, dark chocolate eyes, and a muscular build. Jocelyn eyed him as he walked past, and Lily and Shayna giggled in the background. James and Sirius glowered at him with narrowed eyes.

Jocelyn got up, ran her fingers through her dark, curly hair, and walked over to the wizard. "Hi," he said, tapping him on his shoulder. "I'm Jocelyn…do you think you could help me reach that book up there?" Lily and Shayna giggled again, listening to Jocelyn and drowning out the rest of their conversation.

"Hey, Lily," Remus whispered, "Who's he?"

"That's Caradoc Dearborn," Lily said. James frowned. "He's in our year. Ravenclaw, though. His father's a Muggle, I think…or maybe it's his mother. Anyway, he's a lovely person. Jocelyn's fancied him for ages, now."

"Oh," Remus said, turning over a book that had been lying on the table around which they were sitting. He picked it up and buried his face in it, though Lily could see that he was not reading it.

"Interesting book?" Lily asked, smirking. Since she had started hanging around with the Marauders, she had been smirking a lot more often.

"Yeah," Remus said quickly without looking up.

"What's it about?" Lily asked innocently.

"Something about this thing that has something to do with this other thing linked to the thing from before."

"I see," Lily said, shrugging at Shayna, who had been listening. Sirius and James had left a few moments after Lily had explained to Remus who Caradoc was.

Shayna smiled and whispered in Lily's ear, "Somebody's jealous." She gestured to Remus, who was watching wistfully as Jocelyn and Caradoc laughed softly.

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

"How do you know so much about that Dearborn kid anyway?" James asked Lily that evening in the Heads common room as he paced around in front of her.

Lily laughed from where she was sitting sprawled on the floor, reading her History of Magic textbook. "Please, James, do you honestly think that Jocelyn kept her mouth shut about him for more than five minutes?"

"Well," James said, still pacing and looking entirely unconvinced, "why do you _remember_ all this stuff about Dearborn?"

"Because, James, she brainwashed us," Lily said matter-of-factly. "I'm sure Shayna remembers all of that, too."

"But how would you know that he's a _lovely person_?" James said angrily, quoting her.

"Because we did a project together in fifth year," Lily said, standing up and walking towards James. She put a hand on James's shoulder. "Why are you so worried? Don't you trust me?"

James sighed and relaxed his tense shoulders. "Of course, Lily. I was being paranoid…I'm sorry. It's just that I'm afraid of waking up and finding that I fell asleep on the Hogwarts Express, and that this whole year didn't happen, and that you still hate me…"

He let his words trail off.

"James, why would you think that?" Lily said, her eyebrows furrowing together worriedly. "I love you, and I'd do anything to prove it to you." James's eyes lit up, and as he opened up his mouth to speak, Lily cut him off. "Except that."

"Why wouldn't you jump off a bridge to save me?" James said, looking at her with a confused frown on his face.

"Oh, so _that's_ what you were going to say!" Lily exclaimed, smacking her forehead.

"Of course," James said, as though stating the obvious. "What did you think I wanted to say?"

Lily turned beet red. "Nothing, nothing. Just…forget that."

James suddenly looked at Lily as though seeing her for the first time. "Lily, you dirty girl!"

"I _said_," Lily said threateningly, "that you should _forget that_!"

**A/N: So, this chapter doesn't really have much to do with the main plot. But, it just shows that Jocelyn is completely over Remus, while Remus…not so much, sadly. But, in the books he's single for Tonks, so I can't have them both together because I like Tonks better than Jocelyn anyways! Anyway, there are only a few chapters left to go before the ending, and one really crazy plot twist…so, review, please! Thanks.**


	36. The Graduation Ball prep

**The Graduation Ball**

James and Lily, having finished their plans for their graduation, had submitted the plans to Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore, who had approved them happily. That Friday, Professor McGonagall explained to all the seventh years what was to be happening.

"Now, I trust that you are all very excited about our Graduation Ball, which will be held after your N.E.W.T.s in the middle of June. There are a few things you need to know about the ball. Our Heads have done a very good job planning. The Weird Sisters will be performing"—here many of the students whooped, for the Weird Sisters were very popular—"and the ball will be outside. Lily and James wish that the exact location of the ball remains a surprise to you all. For attire, girls will wear any shade of blue or white dress-robes or dresses, and boys will wear dress-robes or suits of the same colors. Tomorrow, seventh years will be given special permission to go to Hogsmeade and look for clothing for the ball." All the girls shared excited glances and shrieked with delight. "Okay, now, I know you are all very excited, but shopping doesn't start until tomorrow, so if you could turn your attention to my desk please? We're going to be transforming furniture into pigs today, so you'll need to focus!"

**?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿ ?¿**

Lily, Shayna, and Jocelyn walked through the streets of Hogsmeade, looking for a dress shop that would fit the needs of the graduation attire. The streets were filled with Hogwarts seventh year students, all looking for similar stores. Finally, the girls found the Hogsmeade extension of Madam Malkin's Robe store and walked in. The bell on the door tinkled cheerfully.

"Hello," the shopkeeper said happily. "Do you need help with anything?"

"No," the girls said in unison. "Thanks, though."

"Okay, well, if you girls need help, just come and ask me," the shopkeeper said.

Lily walked over to a rack where there were many dresses. She pulled out a knee-length, off-white strapless dress that was splattered with glitter and held it up to her petite frame. "What do you think of this one?" Lily asked her friends.

"I like it a lot," Jocelyn said, shuffling dresses to the side in search of one for herself. "What about this?" she asked, holding up a royal blue dress. It was an ankle-length halter dress with little silver rhinestones around the neckline.

"That's gorgeous," Shayna said. She was not looking through the rack of dresses, but was instead looking at simple dress robes with long sleeves. "I like this one," she said, showing Lily and Jocelyn a light blue robe that skimmed the floor.

"Shayna, why don't you get an actual dress? It's our one chance to show to everyone what we look like without our robes on!" Jocelyn exclaimed.

"I—erm—don't like my shoulders," Shayna said.

"Fine," Jocelyn huffed. "Let's go try on our dresses!"

The girls walked into three separate dressing rooms and put on their dresses. They stepped out into the hallway and showed the other two how they looked. Lily came out first.

"Wow," Jocelyn said, looking at Lily, who smiled. "You'll knock James off his feet with that one!"

Lily laughed. "Let's see yours, then," she said, as Jocelyn walked into her fitting room and pulled on her dress.

"I like it," Jocelyn said, looking at herself from all angles in the big mirror at the end of the hall. "Do you?"

Shayna smiled. "It's gorgeous."

"Dearborn will flip," Lily laughed. "You should get it!"

"Okay," Jocelyn replied. "Shayna, it's your turn."

Shayna walked into her dressing room and pulled on her dress robes, before walking back into the hall and spinning around for them to see. "Like it?"

"It's very simple," Lily said. "Why don't you take off the cloak, at least?"

"No!" Shayna exclaimed. "I don't like my shoulders; they're too bony."

"Are not," Jocelyn argued.

"Are too," Shayna replied stubbornly. "Besides, it's my choice, not yours, and I'm getting them. I like them."

The girls changed back into their school uniforms and walked to the cash register, putting their dresses on the counter. "That'll be two Galleons each," the shopkeeper said, and each girl put two gold Galleons on the counter. They picked up their dresses and walked out the door.

"So, where's the ball going to be?" Jocelyn asked curiously once the girls walked out of the store.

"I'm not telling," Lily sang tauntingly, sticking her tongue out and laughing. "You'll just have to wait and see!"

"Fine," Jocelyn huffed. Then she smiled. "Well, with Lily and James preparing it, we know that it'll be very organized but spontaneous…isn't that the perfect oxymoron?"

"Definitely," Shayna said, laughing. "Now, let's get back to the school before we wrinkle our dresses!"

**A/N: Chapters are slowing down because…there are only two chapters left! The next chapter is kind of the last plot twist, and then the sweet ending chapter. Tee hee. I decided to add this little update in between my usual updates because I want to be nice before I end my story. Um, thanks to everybody who's reviewed and read everything and all that jazz because if it weren't for you guys I probably would have given up this story. And…um…yeah I'll make my whole big speech at the end of my story. Review please!**


	37. Roses Have Thorns, Daisies Wilt

**Roses Have Thorns, Daisies Wilt**

April passed without much event, as did May. June brought along the N.E.W.T. exams; Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests, which determined what jobs the seventh years were qualified to hold after Hogwarts. Tensions were high, as were stress levels and the demand for free time. Even the Marauders let the tests slip by without the usual mayhem they caused at the end of the year. Everyone could feel their last year of Hogwarts drawing to a close.

Finally the last exam was finished, and the seventh years had a free night of no studies. Sirius and Shayna sat side by side at the Gryffindor table that night, chatting quietly. James sat between Lily and Remus, and Jocelyn sat next to Lily. James and Remus kept glancing at Sirius nervously. When both Sirius and Shayna were finished eating, Sirius held his hand out and Shayna grasped it, standing up and interlacing their arms at the elbows. They walked out the Great Hall and onto the grounds.

"Sha-Sha, I have a surprise for you," Sirius whispered quietly in her ear.

Shayna laughed, both at the use of the silly nickname and Sirius's breath tickling her ear. "What is it?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise!" Sirius exclaimed. "Now, come on, because we're not very far from it."

Shayna leaned into Sirius and smiled. They headed towards the lake. "Please tell me?"

"Not yet," Sirius laughed. They reached the edge of the lake as the sun was setting in the distance—it took very careful timing on Sirius's part for it to work out this way. "Okay, now, when the sun sets, close your eyes." The sun dipped below the horizon only moments later, turning their world into night. "Okay, close your eyes."

Shayna's eyes fluttered closed, and she heard Sirius mutter a charm. "Can I open them now?" she asked quietly. She felt the need to whisper, as though the magic of the night would disappear if she talked too loudly.

"In a second," Sirius whispered back, flicking his wand. "Okay, open."

Shayna opened her eyes and gasped. She stood in the middle of a circle of scented candles, on a blanket made of rose petals and cushions made of daisies. "Merlin, Sirius!" she breathed. "You did all this…for me?"

Sirius nodded, sitting down on the blanket of rose petals and patting a spot next to him. "Come, sit," he whispered. Shayna stepped carefully, afraid of ruining all that he carefully planned, and sat gingerly next to him.

"Why?" Shayna asked him.

"Does it matter?" Sirius replied. "Just enjoy." He smiled and pulled out his wand again, giving it a flick. A plate of strawberries and banana slices appeared in front of them, along with a miniature chocolate fountain. Sirius picked up a banana slice and put it under the fountain, letting chocolate run over it and splatter on his fingers. He popped one into his mouth, then picked up another and put it into Shayna's mouth. Shayna giggled and licked the chocolate from her lips.

"Yum," she said, taking a strawberry from the plate and eating it. "Sirius, you have some chocolate on your mouth…let me get that for you." She leaned in and kissed him lightly, and Sirius wrapped his arms around her slim waist. She shrugged her shoulders and let her cloak slip off to her elbows. She pulled back from the kiss and pulled off her cloak. "Maybe we should finish inside the castle," she said breathlessly, standing up.

"Shayna, wait," Sirius said quietly. He took hold of her hand and stood on one knee, pulling a box from behind his back.

Shayna gasped and put her free hand to her mouth, holding back tears. "Oh, Merlin!" she whispered.

"I know you said you wouldn't move in with me because we weren't engaged, and so…" Sirius swallowed hard. "So, I want to make sure you have no reason not to stay with me." He pulled her hand in front of her and kissed the inside of her palm. "Er—Well…here it goes," he sighed. "Will you—" he began, but suddenly something on her arm caught his eye, something that made him look up at her in disgust. "What the bloody hell is that?!"

Shayna's eyes widened in horror. "Sirius, I—I can explain!" she gasped.

A gust of cold wind blew from the north, and the candles surrounding them flickered out. "You don't need to explain, Shayna," Sirius said quietly, his voice sounding hurt and angry. "There's nothing _to _explain. You're in league with _him_."

Tears streamed down Shayna's cheeks as another gust of wind blew the rose petal blanket away and toppled the daisy cushions into the lake. They floated for a moment before sinking lower and lower until they could no longer be seen. "Sirius, please, listen to me!" Shayna begged as Sirius stood up. "Please, there was no other choice! He would have killed me! And you!"

Sirius frowned, his gray eyes looking at her coldly and with contempt. "He'll do it anyway, but I thought you would rather die knowing you did it to save your friends." Sirius's tone remained deathly calm, but his cheeks flushed with anger.

"Sirius, please!" Shayna pleaded, tears rushing down her cheeks. "Sirius, you know me!"

"Funny, I'm not sure I do anymore," Sirius spat. He opened the box he had clenched in his hand and took out a beautiful gold ring, encrusted with two small diamonds. "This _was_ for you." He sighed. "But it's not anymore. Go inside, Shayna. I can't look at you anymore."

Shayna sniffled and picked up her cloak, and turned to go into the castle. "I love you, Sirius," she whispered.

She got no reply. Sirius had turned to face the lake and was staring into its icy depths. He heard her footsteps retreating into the distance, and he looked at the small ring in his hand, a ring that would have been shown proudly on Shayna's left ring finger. Wind whipped Sirius's hair and robes. He frowned, and a single teardrop splattered on the diamond engagement ring. Sirius pulled back his arm and threw the ring as far as he could into the lake, where it would lay at the bottom, left to rust and linger there forever.

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Some time later, Sirius walked back to the Gryffindor common room, alone. Remus and James were sitting there waiting for him with pained expressions on their faces. Sirius flopped dejectedly into an armchair and sighed.

"What happened, mate?" James asked quietly. "Shayna came in by herself about two hours ago! She packed her stuff and she's speaking with Dumbledore now. I think she wants to leave."

"Let her leave," Sirius growled.

"Why?" Remus asked. "What happened?"

"She's a Death Eater, that's what!" Sirius exclaimed, standing up abruptly. James and Remus glanced at each other in shock.

"Shayna? A Death Eater? Are you sure?" Remus asked skeptically.

"Yeah, I saw the Mark with my own eyes," Sirius exclaimed. "Everything was going perfect until then! If I'd have known, I would NEVER—"

"Sirius, mate, calm down," James said. "It's not your fault! It's nobody's fault but her own! Nobody would have suspected her!"

"I'm disgusted," Sirius said quietly, "to think that I loved a Death Eater."

"Sirius, you didn't know," Remus said. "There was no way you could have known."

Suddenly footsteps sounded from the girls' staircase, and Lily and Jocelyn walked down the stairs in their bathrobes and slippers. "What's going on?" Lily asked. "I stayed to see how Shayna's date with Sirius went, but she came in and didn't say anything to us at all!"

"Other than that she's leaving," Jocelyn added. "I think she said her mother was sick or something, and she wanted to be home. She's leaving tonight."

"That's not why," Sirius said grimly. "Sit."

Lily and Jocelyn sat, sharing worried glances at the scowl on Sirius's face. "What's wrong, Sirius?" Lily asked from where she sat next to James.

"Shayna's what's wrong," Sirius replied. "I was going to—oh Merlin, I can't believe what I was going to do."

Remus grimaced. "He was going to propose."

Lily and Jocelyn gasped. "Why didn't you?" Jocelyn asked earnestly.

"She's a Death Eater," James answered for Sirius, who had his head in his hands. "He saw the Mark on her arm when he took her hand."

Lily put her hand to her mouth. "SHE'S A _WHAT_? DID I HEAR YOU RIGHT?"

"She's a Death Eater," Sirius repeated weakly. "The Mark's on her arm. Bloody horrible thing, it is. A skull, with a serpent for a tongue."

"But—but—_why_?" Jocelyn exclaimed, tears streaming down her face.

"She was scared, why else?" Remus replied, with a hint of disgust in his voice.

"Who would've thought our Shayna would—would—well, would do…that?" Lily stuttered, clutching James's arm with shaking hands. She reached out a hand and took Sirius's. "Sirius, we're still here for you," she said quietly. "All of us. It'll be alright."

**A/N: Don't get mad. You still have the last chapter to read, so click the little arrow & I'll make my big speech there!**


	38. Mischief Managed

**Mischief Managed**

Sirius managed to get along pretty well over the weekend leading up to graduation, though the once cheerful spark in his eyes seemed to have been extinguished. He, like everyone else, busied himself with preparations for the Graduation Ball, though James, Remus, Lily, and Jocelyn knew that it was only to take his mind off of Shayna.

The day of the ball, Lily was nervously curling her auburn hair and putting on her makeup, all the while reciting the speech that she, as valedictorian, would have to make. Jocelyn was next to her, also applying her makeup and checking herself nervously in the mirror. Lily, who was ready before Jocelyn, waited for Jocelyn to finish straightening her hair (by magic, of course) before starting down the stairs leading to the common room, where James would be waiting.

Finally, they walked down the stairs. Halfway down the stairs, Lily caught site of James, who, from the angle he was standing, could not see her. She noticed how his hair was still as untidy as ever, and how its messiness contradicted with his crisp new dress robes. When she stepped down the stairs, he handed her a small jewelry box. She opened it and saw two pearl earrings that matched perfectly with her dress. "They're gorgeous!" she said, putting them in her ears.

"That's why they match you so perfectly," James said sincerely, though not without his famous Marauder smirk.

Lily laughed. "Let's go?" she suggested, blushing.

"Can I escort you?" James said regally, winking and holding out his elbow for her. She grasped it lightly, and they walked together out the common room, with Jocelyn and Remus talking cheerfully behind them. "You look beautiful," James whispered in Lily's ear.

"Don't I always?" Lily said cheekily. "And thank you."

They walked to the Great Hall doors and opened them, the summer breeze blowing around them lightly. The sky was a clear, crisp blue. Students were already beginning to file out onto the lake.

"HOLY MERLIN!" Jocelyn exclaimed. "THE BALL IS _ON THE LAKE_?"

"Yeah," Lily said. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"It's great," Remus said, looking at Jocelyn.

"Lily, you need to go, you're making the speech, remember?" James reminded her, smiling.

Lily smiled and walked ahead of them, towards where all their professors were standing. "Hello, professors," she said, smiling.

"Hello, Lily," Professor Dumbledore replied. "Are you ready for your speech? I think everybody is here now."

"Yes, I am," Lily said. "Where should I stand?"

"There is a raised platform towards the edge of the lake where you can stand," Professor McGonagall said, smiling.

"Thank you." Lily smiled and walked towards the platform. She walked up the small steps leading to the top of the stage, accompanied by Professor Dumbledore.

Dumbledore looked at the sea of seventh year students and smiled jovially. "Hello, everyone, and welcome to your Graduation Ball. I have watched each and every one of you grow to become the young adults you all are now; your skills have improved, and you have learned to master your talents and your situations better than I ever could have hoped. And now, so I don't take up too much time away from your celebrations, Lily Evans, class valedictorian, will make her speech."

"Er—hi, everybody," Lily started, uncertainly. "Standing here, in front of you all, is a place I never thought I would get to. Crossing this lake at the beginning of our first year was no easy feat; we were all small, nervous, and didn't know what to expect. We soon learned that magic is not all about loud bangs and flashy colors, but skill and concentration. We levitated feathers, turned pincushions into porcupines, and befriended one another. And, in my opinion, that is the most important thing we have ever accomplished within school walls.

"This is it. From now on, we no longer have our professors to guide and teach us, or to give us house points or help with our spells. From now on, when we do something, we do it virtually on our own. And we take pride in what we do, because in some cases, no one else will.

"Having lived my first ten years without knowing or believing in the Wizarding world, getting my Hogwarts letter was an extraordinary experience for me. Coming to Hogwarts has been a life-changing experience for me. I've given up many things to come to this school, but I've gained so much more. I've gained friends, powers, and an experience that I wouldn't change for anything in the world, as I'm sure you've also gained.

"So, today, when we raise our glasses, we raise them to seven years of experience. Seven years of friends. Seven years of magic that our wands cannot make; only our hearts." Lily smiled. "Thank you." She stepped off the stage as everyone clapped for her.

The Weird Sisters walked onto the stage, and played first a slow song. James walked over to Lily and smiled. "Lily, will you dance with me?" he asked, taking her hand.

"Of course," Lily giggled, walking out onto the dance floor. James wrapped his arms around her waist, and Lily placed hers around his neck. They swayed slowly to the music, not paying attention to anything around them.

"So, Lily, did you think about what you would like to do after Hogwarts?" James asked, spinning Lily around.

"I want to be a Healer," Lily replied.

"Where are you going to stay?" James asked her, putting his arms once again around her waist.

"I don't know," Lily answered, frowning. "I forgot about that part of leaving Hogwarts."

"I know," James smiled. "You'll stay with me…won't you?"

"Of course!" Lily laughed. "I'd love to."

"Glad that's settled, then," James said. He kissed Lily's cheek as the song ended. "Let's go sit? Remus and Sirius saved us one of those big tables."

"Okay," Lily said, and she and James walked off of the dance floor and to the table.

Jocelyn, Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus sat around the table in a circle. "Let's make a toast," Jocelyn said, raising her goblet. "To Hogwarts!"

"To seven years!" added Sirius, raising his glass.

"To magic," Remus said, also raising his goblet.

"To friendship!" Lily exclaimed, raising her arm to join the others.

"To never having to do homework again!" James shouted, raising his goblet, as everyone laughed.

They put their goblets together at the center of the table and spoke in unison, "Mischief managed!"

_The End_

**A/N: THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH TO EVERYBODY WHO READ MY STORY! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Thanks to you guys, this is the first long story I have ever finished. Ever. And you did that. So I thank you guys very very much for all your reviews.**

**A brief explanation for why I ended it here: I didn't want to write about them getting married or having Harry (because that would just be awkward for me), and writing until where they die would just be way to sad. And, I actually thought of this ending while in the car listening to one of my favorite songs, though I forgot which one…I thought it was cute, so I wrote it.**

**So, thank you once again and review these last two chapters. And you might be wondering why I decided to make Shayna a Death Eater? Well, Sirius is single in the books, so I had to think of a way to make him single, and this is what I came up with because I love plot twists. I'm very mad at Shayna though. Lol. Review, please, and tell me what you think about my story!**


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